Hou Yu-ih, the candidate for Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang party, admitted his defeat on Saturday in the election of the island's head of state, and asked his voters for forgiveness.

"I have disappointed everyone. I am here to express my deepest regret. Please, forgive me," Hou said in his address to the voters.

The counting of votes in Taiwan is still ongoing. As of 7:57 p.m. local time (11:57 GMT), Hou ranked second after the pro-independence candidate of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Lai Ching-te, and had 4.248 million votes or 33.33%, according to preliminary results.

Lai and Taiwan People's Party Chairman Ko Wen-je are still in the race with 40.42% and 26.24% of the votes respectively, the preliminary results also showed.
 
Earlier on Saturday, millions of Taiwanese headed to the polls for a presidential election, with China eying the results that could determine the new nature of relations between the two sides.

Beijing slammed frontrunner Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the current vice president, as a dangerous "separatist" in the days leading up to the poll, calling on voters to make "the correct choice" if they want to avoid military conflict.

China claims Taiwan as its own and says it will not rule out using force to bring about "unification". Chinese President Xi Jinping in a recent New Year's address said the "unification" of Taiwan with China was "inevitable".

China warns US

Earlier on Thursday, China warned against US intervention in Taiwanese-Chinese affairs, emphasizing the necessity to avoid any false signals that give separatists the wrong impression. 

During a regular press conference on Wednesday, Mao Ning, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said the US “needs to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and stipulations of the three China-US joint communiqués, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and stop official contact with the Taiwan region.”

She then reiterated China's cemented stance against US intervention in Taiwanese elections, saying it sends separatists and independent forces the wrong message, as “there is only one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China," adding that China firmly "opposes the US having any form of official contact with the Taiwan region."