2024-01-13 08:52:00
Taiwan elects president under the shadow of the threat from the Chinese regime. (REUTERS/Ann Wang)
The polling stations in Taiwan closed their doors this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. local time (08:00 GMT), after a day of voting to elect the president and legislators that ended without major incidents.
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Presidential candidate William Lai is beginning to gain a certain advantage over his rivals in an election marked by a slightly lower turnout than anticipated.
The 69.8 percent preliminarily confirmed by the Taiwanese Election Commission is far from the 75 percent anticipated in previous days, in part because the Taiwanese electoral system requires voters to cast their ballot in the place where their address is registered.
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The 17,795 authorized centers opened their doors at 8:00 a.m. (00:00 GMT) and voting took place normally, with the main candidates casting their votes first thing in the morning.
Some irregularities that were recorded during the day were the delay of a flight from Taipei to the island of Kinmen, located just two kilometers from the coast of mainland China, which caused protests by nearly one hundred passengers who wanted to travel to exercise their right to vote, reported the local media United Daily News.
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In Taiwan, voting is in person, so voters can only vote at their place of residence.
The 17,795 authorized centers opened their doors at 8:00 a.m. (REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)
After the closure of the schools, the authorities began counting the votes, and the results are expected to be known at night.
In these elections, more than 19.5 million Taiwanese were called to the polls to elect one of the three candidates for president: the vice president of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (PDP), Lai Ching-te; the candidate of the Kuomintang (KMT), Hou Yu-ih, and the “outsider” of the People’s Party of Taiwan (PPT), Ko Wen-je.
According to polls published until January 2, Lai is the favorite with around 35% of support, followed by Hou, with 28%, and Ko, with another 24%.
“This is Taiwan’s hard-won democracy. We should all value our democracy and vote enthusiastically,” Lai told reporters while voting in a school gym in the southern city of Tainan.
“I hope that no matter how turbulent it was during the election process, everyone will come together after the election to face the future of Taiwan,” Hou said after voting in New Taipei City.
More than 19.5 million Taiwanese were called to the polls to elect one of the three candidates for president. (REUTERS/Ann Wang)
The small margin between the candidates, added to the significant number of undecided people (12%), increases uncertainty around elections conditioned by Taiwan’s relations with China.
The PDP candidate has presented these elections as a struggle between “democracy” and “autocracy”, while the KMT candidate has reiterated that only a victory for the opposition, more inclined to dialogue with Beijing, could avoid a “war” with China.
During this day, Taiwanese also voted to renew the 113 seats that make up the Legislative Yuan (Parliament), where the ruling PDP currently holds a majority of 63 legislators.
Located at a key maritime gateway linking the South Sea to the Pacific Ocean, Taiwan is home to a powerful semiconductor industry that produces microchips, the lifeblood of the global economy that powers everything from smartphones to cars and missiles.
China has increased military pressure on the island in recent years, periodically stoking concerns about a possible invasion.
China has increased military pressure on the island in recent years, periodically stoking concerns about a possible invasion. (REUTERS/Ann Wang)
Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a recent New Year’s speech that Taiwan’s “unification” with China was “inevitable.”
The hashtag “Taiwan elections” was among the top trends on Chinese social media platform Weibo before it was blocked around 9:45 a.m. local time (0145 GMT).
Chinese fighter jets and warships scan Taiwan’s defenses almost daily and Beijing has also staged massive war games in recent years, simulating a blockade of the island and sending missiles into surrounding waters.
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