All papers ran extensive front- and inside-page reports on the victory of the opposition party’s Tsai Ing-wen in the Taiwan presidential election on Saturday. Asahi speculated that Tsai will maintain “the status quo” with China, quoting her as telling her supporters on Saturday that there will be no provocations. However, Mainichi conjectured that Tsai will likely review President Ma’s pro-China policy and that tensions could rise in East Asia as a result. Yomiuri wrote that Taiwan’s pro-China policy under President Ma will be reviewed, speculating that cross-strait relations could become unstable following the victory of the DPP because China may increase its pressure on Taipei.

The papers quoted a statement issued by Foreign Minister Kishida on Saturday: “We congratulate DPP President Tsai on her victory. Taiwan is an important partner that shares basic values with Japan. Japan will work toward further deepening cooperation and exchanges with Taiwan on a nongovernmental basis.” Regarding Taiwan’s ties with Japan, Tsai said at a post-election news conference that she plans to continue to further strengthen Taipei’s relations with Tokyo. While stating that the Senkaku Islands belong to Taiwan, Tsai commented that territorial disputes should not affect overall relations with Japan.