Democratic Progressive Party chief Frank Hsieh announced his resignation Wednesday during a meeting of senior party officials in Taipei. He called his defeat by Nationalist Party candidate Ma Ying-jeou a personal setback.

Hsieh lost to Ma by 16 percentage points in Saturday's polling. His loss is the second major electoral setback for the DPP this year. The party lost January's legislative elections to the Nationalists.

Ma Ying-jeou campaigned on a platform of better ties with mainland China. The Nationalist party supports independence for the island.

Taiwan has been self-ruled since defeated Nationalist forces fled there at the end of a civil war in 1949. Beijing still considers Taiwan as its own, and has threatened to attack the island if it formally declares independence.

Source: By VOA News