Democracy Dismantled
The sentencing of 45 pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong under its controversial National Security Law signifies a turning point in the former British colony’s political and legal history.
Taiwan residents began voting in the island’s leadership and legislature elections in the early hours of Saturday and the polls will close at 4 pm.
Each eligible voter will cast one ballot for the leadership election and two ballots for the legislature election, one for a candidate representing the voter’s electoral district and the other for a political party, according to the island’s election commission.
Han Kuo-yu, the Kuomintang candidate, and his running mate Chang San-cheng will compete in the leadership election with Democratic Progressive Party candidate Tsai Ing-wen and her running mate Lai Ching-te and James Soong, the People First Party candidate, and his running mate Sandra Yu.
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The island’s legislature has 113 seats, including 73 directly elected regional seats.
Tsai and her main challenger, Han Kuo-yu of the Nationalist Party, both voted shortly after polls opened at 8 a.m. Han voted in Kaohsiung, where he is mayor. A third-party candidate, James Soong, is also running but has virtually no chance of winning.
For many in Taiwan, months of protests in Hong Kong have cast in stark relief the contrast between their democratically governed island and authoritarian, communist-ruled mainland China.
The Hong Kong protests have undermined Taiwan support for the “one-country, two-systems” approach Beijing has championed for governing both that former British colony and Taiwan.
The island of more than 23 million people exercises all the roles of a sovereign nation, issuing its own passports, maintaining its own military and legal system and serving as a crucial hub in the global high-tech supply chain.
Voting results are expected to be announced on Saturday evening, according to the election commission.
(With inputs from agency)
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