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The Taiwanese began voting in the mid-term local elections on Saturday, which was seen as a referendum on President Tsai Ing-wen's leaning towards independence amid growing pressure from the powerful Chinese rival. , the island.
The elections that will follow Tsai's overwhelming victory in 2016 will decide races for 22 mayors and county magistrates, as well as for thousands of local officials.
Two years ago, the opposition nationalists, also known as the KMT, are expelled from power and hope to return to the territory of the ruling Progressive Democratic Party with a focus on their business-friendly image. and on a more accommodating line with regard to Beijing.
Since his election in 2016, Tsai has marched on relations with China, preserving the de facto independent status of Taiwan that was supported by the vast majority of Taiwanese, while avoiding calls from the most radical elements of his party to demand formal separation party. Mainland.
China has increased pressure on the island to claim its own territory by poaching its diplomatic partners, suppressing official contacts and organizing threatening military exercises.
China regrets Tsai's refusal to support the position of autonomous island democracy that is part of the Chinese nation. But the nationalists won only six seats in the mayoralty and local magistracy in 2014, as voters rejected their close ties with China. Tsai then defeated the nationalist presidential candidate.
"The hostility between mainland China and Taiwan has been very deep for people over the last two years, and the blocking of relations as now is really bad for the economic development of our country," said Hung Wei. Chi, Elector of Taipei. The marketing professional said he was supporting the candidate for the nationalist mayor of his hometown, Taipei.
Among the key races, the offices of mayors of the capital, Taipei, and the port of Kaohsiung, in the south of the country, have long been a stronghold of the DPP.
Economic growth, employment and pension reforms are also key issues, but the major parties are likely to present the result as a vote for or against central government policy, including how to manage China. .
"Tsai Ing-wen's government over the past two years has been a breakthrough in pension reforms, but in terms of workers' rights and other issues, many still think that it has not been successful enough, which will affect the mid-term elections, "said Lin Liang-chun, a junior party candidate for Taipei City Council.
At a rally organized on Wednesday for Taipei's mayoral candidate, Tsai accused China of "intervening" in the elections. "It is precisely because China finds that Tsai Ing-wen is very firm that it must continue to intervene during the elections in Taiwan to defeat the Progressive Democratic Party," she said.
The Taiwanese authorities warned that Beijing was trying to convince voters to spread misinformation online in the same way that Russia was accused of interfering in US elections.
The nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek reformed their government in Taiwan in 1949, in the middle of the civil war with Mao Zedong's communists. They ruled under martial law until the late 1980s, when the indigenous Taiwanese population began to assume political functions, mainly through the PDP.
About 19 million Taiwanese have the right to vote. The election results are expected by the end of Saturday.
