Following the losses suffered by her party in the local elections held in the country today, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen resigned from her post as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party

Tsai, who will remain president of the island, told reporters: "the election results were not as expected .. I must take all responsibility and resign from my post as head of the Democratic Progressive Party immediately," the French newspaper Le Monde reports.

Voters came out today to cast ballots for mayors, judges and various other positions in 22 cities and provinces, while there was also a referendum on lowering the voting age from 20 to 18, which was rejected.

Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party has lost four out of six posts, including the capital Taipei.

Tsai called the vote "an opportunity to show Taiwan's determination and determination to defend freedom and democracy to the international community".

She said: "but we don't have time to feel sad, we have to get up after our fall ... There is no room for hesitation for Taiwan in the face of the current international situation and future challenges,"he said.

Tensions between Taiwan and China escalated to their highest level in years in August when Beijing held massive military exercises around Taiwan in protest against the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island.

Taiwan's opposition nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party, which maintained closer ties with China when it was in power, vowed to "work hard to maintain peace in the region" as the party chief announced his victory at a press conference.

"We will selflessly devote ourselves to the Taiwanese people so that the KMT has a chance to win the (presidential) elections in 2024,"said Eric Chu.