Around 19.5 million Taiwanese are voting to elect a new president and legislature on Saturday, in an election key to determining the island’s future relationship with China.
Taiwan is a democratic territory that governs itself – but it’s claimed by mainland China and has no international recognition as a country.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is seeking a third term – it has always clashed with Beijing over its defence of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Its candidate William Lai has been labelled a troublemaker by China who warned people against voting for him.
On the other side is the main opposition Kuomintang or KMT, which is promising better ties with Beijing – and peace in the Taiwan Strait.
A third party is also on the ballot but opinion polls – which ended two weeks ago – showed a tight race between the DPP’s William Lai and KMT’s Hou Yu-ih.
Taiwanese voters, however, are more concerned about the economy than they are about China.
BBC
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