Kiribati's Taneti Mamau re-elected: state media

The president of Kiribati has won reelection, state media in the Pacific nation reported Tuesday.

Radio Kiribati said incumbent Taneti Mamau garnered 26,053 votes to claim a second four-year term, finishing more than 8,000 ahead of opposition leader Banuera Berina. "The president-elect of Kiribati is Taneti Mamau," Chief Justice John Muria told the radio station.

Mamau's government cut ties with Taiwan and

resumed diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China

in September last year, days after another Pacific nation, the Solomon Islands, did the same.

Berina, who sympathized with the Taiwan authorities, was highly critical of Mamau's move, raising speculations that he could re-build ties with them once elected.

In January, Mamau visited China and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, and the two countries

signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister

Wang Yi

said in May the bilateral relationship had enjoyed sustained and rapid growth, and produced fruitful outcomes in a wide range of areas.

"New historical progress is recorded every day," Wang said in a statement on the reopening of Kiribati's Embassy in China.

With Tuesday's election victory, Maamau will serve a second four-year term, also continuing his role as the country's foreign minister. He will be officially sworn-in at the Kiribati's Parliament House on Wednesday.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: KiribatiPresident Taneti Mamau addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. /Reuters)