2024-01-13 06:52:18
Polling stations in Taiwan opened their doors on Saturday for voters to cast their votes today, Saturday, in the presidential and parliamentary elections, which China described as a choice between war and peace. The elections are being held amid pressure from Beijing to try to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty.
Published on: 01/13/2024 – 07:52
3 minutes
In a follow-up poll China With great interest and describing it as a choice between war and peace, voters proceeded to Taiwan By casting their votes on Saturday in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Taiwan has been a democratic success story since holding its first direct presidential elections in 1996, which was the culmination of decades of struggle once morest authoritarian rule and martial law.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which defends Taiwan’s separatist identity, is seeking to win a third term with its candidate, Lai Ching-ti, Vice President of Taiwan and the most prominent candidate to succeed her.
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“Every vote counts, this is Taiwan’s hard-won democracy,” he said in brief remarks.
Speaking to reporters in the southern city of Tainan before the vote, Lai encouraged people to cast their votes.
‘Dangerous separatist’
In the run-up to the elections, China repeatedly denounced Taiwan’s leading presidential candidate as a dangerous separatist, and rejected his repeated calls for talks with it. Lai says he is committed to maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait and continuing to strengthen the island’s defenses.
Lai’s rival in the presidential election is Ho Yi-er of the Kuomintang, the largest opposition party, in addition to former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je of the small Taiwan People’s Party, which was founded in 2019.
Hu Yi-er calls for the resumption of communication with Beijing, starting with the exchange of visits. Like China, he accuses his rival Lai of supporting the formal independence of Taiwan. Lai says he is a supporter of Beijing, but he rejects that accusation.
The third candidate, Kuo Wen-ji, also wants to re-engage with China, but insists that this cannot be at the expense of protecting democracy and the way of life in Taiwan.
Parliamentary elections are no less important than presidential elections, especially if none of the three parties is able to obtain a majority, which may hinder the new president’s ability to approve legislation and spending, especially in the field of defense.
Polls are open for eight hours and close at 4 pm (0800 GMT), and the manual counting of votes begins immediately. There is no electronic, absentee, early or proxy voting.
Current President Tsai Ing-wen is not entitled under the constitution to run once more following two terms in office.
On the other hand, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said this morning that it had once once more spotted Chinese balloons crossing the Taiwan Strait, and one of them flew over Taiwan itself. The ministry denounced the spate of balloons reported over the strait last month, describing it as psychological warfare and a threat to aviation safety.
France 24/Archyde.com
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