Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen was re-elected for a second term with record-breaking support on Saturday, reaffirming the island’s rejection of closer ties with Beijing in favour of a stronger assertion of Taiwanese identity.

After leading the polls, the incumbent secured more than 8 million votes compared to her opponent, Han Kuo-yu, from the Kuomintang (KMT) party, who drew close to 5.5m.

Ms Tsai, 63, - a trusted US ally - and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), had campaigned heavily on the need to protect Taiwan's democracy from China’s threats to annex the island, frequently reminding voters that the crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests could one day be Taiwan.

“With each presidential election Taiwan is showing the world how much we cherish our free democratic way of life and how much we cherish our nation, the republic of China, Taiwan,” she told a packed press conference on Saturday evening, as thousands of supporters cheered outside her party headquarters.

“The results of this election carry an added significance because they have shown that when our sovereignty and democracy are threatened, the Taiwanese people will shout out determination even more loudly back,” she said.