Polls opened at 8am (00:00 GMT) and will close at 4pm (08:00 GMT) with about 19.5 million people registered to vote. The result is expected late on Saturday.

Turnout looks strong – large queues have been reported at polling stations, while Taiwan Railways said a record 758,000 tickets were sold on Friday, suggesting many people were travelling back home to vote.

William Lai Ching-te of the DPP is seen to have the edge in the campaign for president against Hou Yu-ih of the more conservative and Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) and Ko Wen-je of the smaller Taiwan’s People Party (TPP), but the race has been intense.

Taiwan’s election carries an outsized importance because of the territory’s disputed political status. While de facto independent since the 1940s, Beijing still claims the island and its outlying territories and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its aim to take the island.

Taiwan’s ministry of defence said two Chinese balloons had been detected in the hours leading up to the election. One flew over the island.

Source: Al Jazeera 

BDST: 1043 HRS, JAN 13, 2024
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