Daily Mail
Date: 21 December 2019
By: AFP

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen is riding high in the polls as she seeks a second term, a remarkable reversal of fortune aided by bellicose threats from Beijing and unease over political unrest in Hong Kong.

Tsai, 63, is up against Han Kuo-yu of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party, who had a stratospheric rise last year in local elections but has struggled on the campaign trail.

Voters go to the polls on January 11 and relations with China are dominating after three years of Beijing taking a hardline approach towards Taiwan.

"Anti-China sentiments have become a crucial deciding factor in ratings," said Wang Yeh-lih, a political analyst at National Taiwan University, adding Tsai's party slogan "Resist China, Defend Taiwan" had resonated.    [FULL  STORY]