Voters headed to the polls across Taiwan in a closely watched local election Saturday that will determine the strength of the island’s major political parties ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Taiwanese citizens will pick their mayors, city council members and other local leaders in all 13 counties and nine cities. There’s also a referendum to lower the voting age from 20 to 18. Polls opened at 8 a.m. (0000GMT) Saturday.
While international observers and the ruling party have attempted to link the elections to the long-term existential threat that is Taiwan’s neighbour, many local experts do not think China has a significant role to play this time around.
“The international society has raised the stakes too high. They’ve raised a local election to this international level, and Taiwan’s survival,” said Yeh-lih Wang, a political science professor at National Taiwan University.
At an elementary school in New Taipei City, the city surrounding the capital of Taipei, young and old voters came early despite the rain to cast their ballots.
Yu Mei-zhu, 60, said she came to cast her ballot for the incumbent Mayor Hou You-yi, who is running for reelection. “I think he has done well, so I want to continue to support him. I believe he can improve our environment and transportation infrastructure in New Taipei City.”
President Tsai Ing-wen also came out early Saturday morning to cast her vote, catching many voters by surprise as her security and entourage swept through the school. She then urged people across Taiwan to cast their votes.
Tsai, who also chairs the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, has spoken out many times about “opposing China and defending Taiwan” during campaigning. But the DPP’s candidate Chen Shih-Chung, who was running for mayor in Taipei, only raised the issue of the Communist Party’s threat a few times before he quickly switched back to local issues as there was little interest, experts said.
During campaigning, there were few mentions of the large-scale military exercises targeting Taiwan that China held in August in reaction to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit.
“So I think if you can’t raise this issue in Taipei,” Wang said. “You don’t even need to consider it in cities in the south.
