Election ‘a chance to protect democracy’

The future of Taiwan’s democracy is on the line as the self-ruled island’s 19 million voters decide whether to give independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen a second term.

For many Taiwanese, months of protests in Hong Kong have cast in stark relief the contrast between their democratically governed island and authoritarian, communist-ruled mainland China.

Tsai said yesterday’s election was a chance to protect Taiwan’s democracy.

‘‘Let’s get out there and vote . . . let us tell the world with our own votes that Taiwanese are determined to defend sovereignty, determined to guard democracy, and determined to persist in reforms,’’ she said at a final campaign rally on Friday.

Tsai’s Nationalist Party challenger, Han Kuoyu, has said Taiwan should be more open to negotiations with China, in contrast to Tsai, who has dismissed Beijing’s overtures.

At his last rally, attended by hundreds of thousands of people in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, Han focused on practical issues such as improving education and the economy. ‘‘I want to attract massive investments. I want products to be exported non-stop,’’ he said.

China and Taiwan separated during a civil war in 1949, but Beijing still claims sovereignty over the island and occasionally threatens to use force to seize control of it.

The Hong Kong protests have undermined Taiwanese support for the ‘‘one country, two systems’’ approach Beijing has championed for governing both the former British colony and Taiwan.

Fears of Chinese interference in Taiwan’s politics and an uptick in the economy have helped Tsai regain an edge after a dire electoral setback for her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) 14 months ago.

‘‘The reason why I vote for her is for upholding the value of Taiwan’s freedom and democracy, and that should not be affected by the other side of the strait (China),’’ Lucy Ting, a college student, said at Tsai’s rally.

Tsai was leading by a comfortable margin in most polls before the standard blackout period on surveys was imposed 10 days before the election.

The Nationalists have struggled to find candidates who can fire up their pro-China supporters and win over young Taiwanese who increasingly favour the DPP.

Still, the election of former lawmaker Han as mayor of Kaohsiung in December 2018 helped to reenergise the Nationalists, who lost their hold on power four years ago. They had governed since their forces fled to Taiwan from the mainland after the communists’ victory in the civil war in 1949.

Shortly after taking office, Han travelled to China to sign deals to sell US$165 million worth of Taiwanese agricultural products. He also met with leading officials for relations with Taiwan, including the head of the Chinese cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Liu Jieyi, and ranking Communist Party officials in Hong Kong. This reinforced his image as a candidate backed by and friendly to Beijing.

While Han is not expected to win, his party is fighting hard to overturn the DPP’s majority in parliament.

A win by Tsai is expected to draw more diplomatic, economic and military pressure from Beijing on Taiwan, in a continuation of President Xi Jinping’s campaign to compel her administration to endorse its insistence that