Taipei, March 22 (AP): Taiwan’s Opposition candidate cruised to victory in the presidential election today, promising to expand economic ties with China while protecting the island from being swallowed up politically by its giant communist neighbour.

Fireworks lit up the sky over Ma Ying-jeou’s headquarters and cheering supporters put up victory posters as they waited for Ma — a former Taipei mayor — to give a victory speech. Across town, some wept in a crowd that gathered at the campaign office for ruling party candidate Frank Hsieh, a former Premier.

“We won!” shouted Jason Hu, a high-ranking member of the Nationalist Party, after it was announced that Ma won 6.5 million votes, more than half of those cast. The official final results have yet to be released.

Hsieh has yet to give a concession speech, but a ruling Democratic Progressive Party spokeswoman, Hsieh Hsin-ni, told supporters: “We are accepting this defeat.”

Ma and Hsieh have both said they want a less confrontational relationship with China. Taiwan and the mainland split amid civil war in 1949, but China still considers the island to be part of its territory.