BEIJING – Now that Taiwan voters have returned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to the presidency, China will have to look to the United States to temper any moves by the island towards independence, said analysts here.

The US is motivated, too, to play ball, but Beijing will have to deepen reliance on Washington to strike the balance in the Taiwan Strait, they added, given that it is highly unlikely for frozen ties between the Communist Party of China and the DPP – which Beijing has denounced as a separatist force – to thaw.