Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a convincing victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, in what could usher in a new round of instability with China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own.

Tsai pledged to maintain peace with its giant neighbor China, while China's Taiwan Affairs Office warned it would oppose any move toward independence and that Beijing was determined to defend the country's sovereignty.

Reacting to Tsai's victory, China's government-controlled media used noticeably less shrill language than that leveled at Chen Shui-bian, the DPP's last president, and noted her pledges for peace and to maintain the "status quo" with China.