UPDATE 4:35 pm IST: The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, which was re-building ties with China in recent years, has conceded defeat in Taiwan's elections. Eric Chu, candidate of the Kuomintang (KMT), lost Taiwan's leadership election, as per reports.
Tsai Ing-wen, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party is set to win with a margin of more than three million votes. Tsai, 59, is a graduate from the London School of Economics.
Eric Chu also resigned as the party chairman.
"Sorry everybody, Chu Li-luan has disappointed you. We have failed. We have failed the expectations of all voters. We have failed our responsibilities towards Taiwan," he said, according to South China Morning Post.
The KMT party, which has not lost the legislature so far, may also have to concede power there to Tsai's party, according to reports.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Taiwan concluded voting for a historic election on Saturday, which is expected to give a new political course to the country as early results have shown Tsai Ing-wen from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party leading. If she wins, Tsai will be Taiwan's first female president.
Tsai took an early lead in the presidential poll, according to South China Morning Post. She has garnered more than 5 million votes a couple of hours since counting began, while her closest rival Eric Chu of the Kuomintang (KMT) party is 2.5 million votes behind, the newspaper reported.
The predicted victory for Tsai is expected to strain Taiwan's relations with China, which had received a big boost after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou shook hands in Singapore last November.
Hostility between China and Taiwan have continued ever since the defeat of the Kuomintang (KMT) party, which ran the Republic of China government, in the civil war to the Communist Party of China in 1949. The KMT party was relegated to the Taiwanese island following the war. China has since considered Taiwan to be part of the country which will eventually be united.
However, outgoing Kuomintang (KMT) President Ma Ying-jeou has worked to improve cross-Strait ties in the last eight years.
On the other hand, Tsai's party supports independence for Taiwan.
