Taiwan's MAC urges Beijing not to 'misjudge' voting results

TAIPEI (CNA) -- The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) urged Beijing Sunday not to "misjudge" the results of Taiwan's local elections and referendums, in which the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) crushed the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The holding of local government elections and referendums Saturday was an internal affair of Taiwan, the results of which are a demonstration of the core values of Taiwan's full-blown democracy, the MAC said.

It asked Beijing to fully respect and recognize the voting results, keep its hands off Taiwan's internal affairs and not misjudge the Taiwan people's expectations for cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

"The government and people of Taiwan remain committed to safeguarding the peaceful status-quo across the strait, which is Taiwan's basic stance and the consensus of its people and the hopes pinned on Taiwan by the international community," it said.

"We will not drift away from this policy," the MAC stressed.

The China-leaning KMT grabbed 15 seats in Saturday's local government chief elections, including the long-time DPP stronghold of Kaohsiung, against the pro-independence DPP, which took just six.

Ten referendums were held alongside the elections, with voters approving that the country should continue to compete in future international sports events, such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, under the name "Chinese Taipei," which it currently uses, rather than "Taiwan," among other contentious issues.

The MAC's statement came after Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光), spokesman of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said earlier Sunday that the election and referendum results reflect the Taiwan people's high hopes for peaceful development in cross-strait relations and their strong desire for a better economy.

Turning to the name-change issue in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Ma commented that "the setback means that promoting Taiwan independence at the cost of the interests of Taiwanese athletes was doomed to fail."

"We welcome two-way exchanges with cities and counties in Taiwan that are against Taiwan independence based on the foundation of a correct understanding of cross-strait relations," he said.