On the eve of Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections, the Guardian’s senior China correspondent, Amy Hawkins, tells Michael Safi why relations with China have dominated the campaigns.
In his new year’s message, China’s president, Xi Jinping, reiterated his call for the “reunification” of China and Taiwan, an idea that the main three political parties in Taiwan reject. The Chinese Communist party has never ruled in Taiwan.
On the ballot, voters will be presented with different approaches to dealing with the threat.
Amy attends a rally in the capital, Taipei, for the ruling Democratic Progressive party (DPP), which argues that standing up to China is the only way to keep Taiwan safe.
“There’s a lot of talk at the Democratic Progressive party rally about this for the choice between democracy and autocracy,” Amy tells Michael. “They present themselves as the party that will preserve Taiwan’s democracy.”
The main opposition party, Kuomintang (KMT), argues that keeping an open dialogue and economic links with China is the way to preserve peace.
Photograph: Daniel Ceng/EPA
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