Taiwan belongs to its people: presidential candidate

STORY: Taiwan's sovereignty and independence belong to its people……that's what the presidential frontrunner said on Saturday (December 30) in a debate with the other two candidates. The televised debate was dominated by arguments over China and tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Vice President Lai Ching-te, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's presidential candidate, reiterated that he was open to talks with China. He added that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other. China has repeatedly rebuffed his offers of dialogue as it believes he is a dangerous separatist. Taiwan's presidential and parliamentary elections are happening on January 13th as China has stepped up military and political pressure to assert its claims of sovereignty over the island. Chinese warplanes have been sent regularly into the strait. Lai has generally been leading opinion polls by around five points. But some have put his main challenger, Hou Yu-ih of Taiwan's largest opposition party the Kuomintang much closer behind.Hou accused Lai of smearing him with accusations of being pro-China. Hou said he opposed Taiwan's independence and China's "one country, two systems" model of autonomy that no mainstream party supports.He added that "to maintain close ties with the United States while also making peace with China is the solution to the problem."The third presidential candidate is former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je from the small Taiwan People's Party.He said his bottom line on engaging with China was the protection of Taiwan's current political system and way of life.China has described the election as a choice between war and peace.