Officials both in Beijing and Washington may have breathed a sigh of relief after the leadership election in Taiwan two weeks ago. Ma Ying-jeou, candidate of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, defeated his challenger, Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Given the geopolitical significance of the island and its historically intertwined relations with both the mainland and the United States, it is perhaps not an exaggeration to say that the results of Taiwan's leadership election will have a greater and wider impact than, say, France's presidential election. The decisions of Taiwan's 13 million voters who exercised their electoral franchise, will greatly affect its Asia-Pacific neighbors.

Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, has long been a diplomatic battleground between Beijing and Washington. There have been frequent interventions by the US, holding military maneuvers in waters surrounding Taiwan. The cross-Straits situation has been often contentious, making the island a major roadblock to the full normalization of China-US relations.

We can still find evidence of Taiwan's impact today. In early 2010, for example, the Obama administration's decision to approve the $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan (although actually first approved during his predecessor's term) almost completely froze warming relations between China and the United States. The announcement was followed by the cancellation of military exchanges between the two militaries.

With the latest election, Taiwan has again become the common focus of both Beijing and Washington. Unlike the opposing postures that both powers often hold on Taiwanese issues, this time the two sides found consensus, that a pro-independence leader should be avoided in Taiwan. As Ms Tsai and the DPP have long showed an inclination toward formal independence, both Beijing and Washington knew the danger of a DPP victory.

China has never budged from its ultimate goal of unification; any movement towards formal independence in Taiwan could provoke military action by the mainland. After only four years of peaceful development and opening of markets under Ma's first term in office, any new tension in the strait could easily send cross-Straits relations back to the low point seen during the term of his predecessor Chen Shui-bian. Such a step back would undoubtedly harm the economies on both sides of the strait, especially with the global economy in such a gloomy and unstable state. Bilateral trade between the mainland and Taiwan may be more important now than ever before.

The United States is also wary of "Taiwan independence". Washington's official stance is that it takes no side on the matter of unification, so long as the result is negotiated peacefully. While the United States would undoubtedly support Taiwan if it came to a military conflict, it knows such a conflict would be costly, and probably not in its own interest. A move towards independence, and the subsequent rise in tensions, could drag the United States into a new conflict in the Taiwan Straits: an eventuality it wants to avoid.

The outcome of Taiwan's leadership election not only has reassured many countries of the region's future security, but also spread the experience of elections to more people. Incumbent Ma won the election through his clear stance of maintaining the cross-Straits status quo, and dedication to promoting economic integration between Taiwan and the mainland.

The author is former secretary for home affairs of the HKSAR government.