Taiwan President wins re-election fight

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou won a close re-election fight today, leveraging his message of greater prosperity through expanded ties with China to beat his populist-minded opponent.

With about 90% of the vote counted, the official Central Election Commission said Ma had garnered 51% of the total against 46.3% for Tsai Ing-wen of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party. A third candidate, James Soong, once a heavyweight with Ma’s Nationalist Party, had 2.7 %.