Taiwan goes to the polls today and looks set to re-elect Tsai Ing-wen. Her pet cat is front and centre of her campaign, but underneath the 'cute' style lies a much harder edge.
Hong Kong's upheaval has also left Ms Tsai's opponents in the opposition KMT scrambling to justify their much friendlier position on China, with a recent list of pro-China candidates released by the party triggering a backlash."These are very selfish people", said Sean Lien, a prominent figure in the opposition KMT party, referring to Ms Tsai's government.
"The mounting tension with China — they purposely antagonised China and hoped Beijing would come back with some reckless actions, which would help Tsai's party", he said. While domestic issues loom large, China's presence is definitely being felt, with Ms Tsai herself constantly talking about it. Some pro-Beijing media outlets are relentlessly promoting Ms Tsai's opponent Mr Han, and one major media group last year rejected claims made in the UK Financial Times that it was taking editorial orders directly from China's government.
If, like in some recent elections elsewhere, the polls are wrong, China's leaders will make little attempt to conceal their glee in ousting a woman they've long despised for undermining their efforts to expand Communist Party power.
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