<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Tens of thousands of people gathered in southern Taiwan today for rallies by three presidential candidates making a final weekend push for votes before a crucial Jan 13 election.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The poll is being closely watched in Beijing and Washington, with the winner set to determine the future of the democratic island’s relations with an increasingly aggressive China.</div><div><br></div><div>China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and President Xi Jinping has in recent years intensified rhetoric about “unification” while refusing to rule out the use of force to bring it under Beijing’s control.</div><div><br></div><div>Frontrunner and current Vice-President Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) called the election a choice “between democracy and autocracy”, while his main opponent Hou Yu-ih has warned the DPP will bring Taiwan “closer to war”.</div><div><br></div><div>Hou is the candidate for the island’s Kuomintang (KMT) party, which endorses closer relations with Beijing.</div><div><br></div><div>Speaking to a sea of red-and-blue-clad supporters in the southern city of Kaohsiung, the former policeman – who has painted himself as a “protector” of Taiwan – called on voters not to be “deceived” by the DPP.</div><div><br></div><div>“They love to say Hou Yu-ih is pro-China and will sell out Taiwan…Hou Yu-ih will look after cross-strait peace,” the 66-year-old New Taipei City mayor shouted.</div><div><br></div><div>“We must not let such a party (DPP) continue to be in power.”</div><div><br></div><div>Taiwan has for the past eight years been led by President Tsai Ing-wen, a leader loathed by Beijing for her staunch defence of the island’s sovereignty.</div><div><br></div><div>As a result, China has cut off high-level communications with her government and dispatched unprecedented numbers of fighter jets and naval vessels around Taiwan – a ramp-up in military pressure that has raised global fears of a potential conflict.</div><div><br></div><div>Tsai’s deputy Lai, in the past, was far more vocal about independence – a red line for Beijing – but has softened his stance on the issue in recent months.</div><div><br></div><div>Supporters at KMT’s rally – where organisers estimated a turnout of 120,000 people – carried signs saying “Vote KMT, Taiwan Strait will be free of wars”.</div><div><br></div><div>“I worry about a war in the Taiwan Strait – our children will be sent to the battlefield…I don’t want it to be like the Ukraine-Russia war,” said Ou Pei-li, 56, who works in finance.</div><div><br></div><div>Nearby, DPP supporters gathered ahead of a nighttime rally, wearing the party’s signature green, while a crowd for third-party candidate Ko Wen-je waited eagerly for his arrival in Gushan district. - AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>