Taiwan's electoral result is good for relationship with the mainland

For much of the election, Ma asked voters to judge him based on his record in returning Taiwan to positive economic growth following the 2008 global financial crisis.

He attributed this recovery to the 16 agreements he signed with mainland China, which helped ease the environment for business between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

He argued that by accepting the “1992 Consensus” — a tacit agreement of the one-China policy that was China's condition for negotiations — Taiwan could piggyback on China's rise and prevent Beijing from threatening the island's security.

For this reason the chief executives of Taiwan's largest companies - including HTC Corp. and Foxconn Technology Group — endorsed Ma, as most of them have significant investment interests and manufacturing operations on the mainland.

The opposition tried to discredit this support, arguing that rising unemployment and stagnant wages showed that Ma had only helped the wealthiest business leaders, who ship manufacturing jobs to China.

But conversations with young voters, who have the highest levels of unemployment in Taiwan, indicated that many still feel China is a basket of opportunity.

“China is the best market for Taiwanese goods,” said Tifi Liu, 21, a first-time voter and student at Fu Jen Catholic University.

“They are also supporting our financial system, tourism and trade. It's like that Chinese saying — if someone offers you wine, you should accept it.”

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