In one of the least surprising election results in Taiwanese history, Tsai Ing-wen has won the presidency in a landslide. Even more dramatically, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will take control of the legislature for the first time. Tsai's victory is a devastating judgment on Ma Ying-jeou's presidency. Voters were dissatisfied over a slow economy and closer ties with China.

With the imminent triumph of the Chinese Communist Party, Chiang Kai-shek moved his government to the island in 1949. For a quarter century Washington backed him. Finally, President Richard Nixon opened a dialogue with the mainland and President Jimmy Carter switched official recognition to Beijing. Nevertheless, the U.S. maintained semi-official ties with Taiwan.

As China began to reform economically it also developed a commercial relationship with Taipei. While the ruling KMT agrees with the mainland that there is but one China, the DPP remains formally committed to independence.