Voting begins presidential, legislative elections in Taiwan

Voting commenced in Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections on Saturday in what is expected to be a tight race for the country’s top post and amid increasing tensions with China.

Polling stations opened at 8am local time and more than 19.5 million people over the age of 20 are eligible to cast their vote until they close at 4pm, whereas the results could be announced later during the night.

This is the eighth presidential election in Taiwan since the completion of the democratic transition in 1996, and there are three contenders for the position – Vice-President William Lai (Lai Ching-te) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Hou Yu-ih and Taiwan People’s Party’s (TPP) Ko Wen-je.

The people will also elect representatives to the 113 seats in the Parliament, where the ruling DPP currently holds a majority of 63 seats.

In the election for president, Lai is the favorite with around 35 percent of the support, followed by Hou with 28 percent, and Ko (24 percent), according to pre-poll surveys.

The narrow gap among candidates, along with the large number of undecided voters (12 percent), brings a high level of uncertainty about the elections, in which Taiwan’s relations with mainland China plays a central role.

The DPP candidate has presented these elections as a struggle between “democracy” and “autocracy,” while the KMT candidate has reiterated that only an opposition victory, more prone to dialog with Beijing, could prevent a war with China.

Beijing, which considers the island autonomously ruled since 1949 as a rebel province, has harshly criticized the PDP candidate over the past few weeks, accusing him of being “separatist” and “lacking moral integrity.”

Just hours before the elections kicked off, Chinese army spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said China was prepared to take all necessary measures to defeat separatism in Taiwan, according to local media reports.

In recent weeks, the Taiwanese government has accused China of seeking to interfere in its elections, including through military and economic pressure.

By Nadeem Faisal Baiga