The outcome of the recent election for president of Taiwan represents both a rebuff and a challenge to China.

Voters in Taiwan, formally the Republic of China and home to about 24 million people, solidly rejected threats from the People’s Republic of China, which has a population of nearly 1.5 billion and rules the island with an iron fist. “Michael” Lai Ching-te won the presidency of the ROC by a plurality in a hard-fought three-way race in which the opposition Kuomintang, the nationalist party that once controlled the mainland, gained a slim grip over the legislative yuan.

Close as it was, the election of Lai Ching-te may be seen as a victory for democracy in the face of threats from Beijing to invade the island, as well as a referendum on how to approach China’s claims in the restive region. Lai, who previously served as vice president under the outgoing president, Tsai Ing-wen, has made clear he will govern Taiwan as a sovereign, independent entity. Like Tsai, however, he will avoid challenging Beijing by declaring Taiwan’s “independence” as a separate nation.

Lai’s leading opponent, the candidate of the Kuomintang (KMT), Hou Yu-ih, has called for moderation and dialogue with the mainland. At the same time, Hou rejected a scheme for national “unity” that President Xi seeks as a step on the way to Beijing rule. Lai realized, reluctantly, there was no point in rocking the boat while KMT business interests, among others, were making enormous profits from investment in China as well as from trade, notably in semiconductors and other electronic items.

The repercussions of the Taiwan election extend across the region. In Pyongyang, North........

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