lørdag 11. januar 2020

Explainer: What is at stake in Taiwan's election

Taiwan votes in presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday, which will set the course for the democratic island’s ties with its giant and autocratic neighbor China, which claims Taiwan as its territory.President Tsai Ing-wen is seeking a second term in office. Her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) favors the island’s formal independence. Tsai has said repeatedly in the campaign that Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.

Tsai says it is up to Taiwan, not China, to decide the island’s future, and has warned of the Chinese threat to democracy and liberty.Her main opponent is Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang party, which ruled China until 1949 when forced to flee to Taiwan after losing a civil war with the Communists. Han favors close ties with China as the only way to ensure Taiwan’s security and prosperity, though says he will defend the island’s freedoms and democracy.