(Taipei) Taiwan, which votes on Saturday to elect its next president and renew its Parliament, has been politically separated from the rest of China for seven decades and under the threat of reunification.
Here are some key facts about this territory of 23 million inhabitants which has its currency, its flag, its army, its diplomacy and its government, but is only considered an independent country by a handful of capitals.
A divided China
At the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, communists established the People’s Republic of China in Beijing. The province of Taiwan became the refuge of the Kuomintang nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek and the base of the “Republic of China”, which was intended to be the legitimate continuation of the first Chinese Republic proclaimed in 1912 in Nanking.
The island was governed under martial law until 1987. The state of emergency was lifted in 1991, allowing the emergence of democracy and putting an end to the state of war with the “communist rebellion”, therefore with Beijing. A slow rapprochement then begins.
Relations have worsened since President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rejects the principle of “one China” and claims that Taiwan is already de facto independent.
PHOTO SAM YEH, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory to be reconquered one day, by force if necessary. China will “surely be reunified,” President Xi Jinping declared during his New Year’s speech.
Isolated on the international scene
Taipei was long considered China’s official representative, until the United Nations shifted to Beijing in 1971. Other countries and international bodies followed suit.
Beijing opposes any official or military contact between the island’s authorities and foreign countries.
In its isolation campaign, China has, in recent years, torn away several countries allied to Taiwan, like Honduras in March 2023. Now, only thirteen states in the world officially recognize Taiwan, including seven in Latin America and in the Caribbean, while the Vatican remains last in Europe.
Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979, recognizing Beijing as China’s sole representative. However, the United States remains its most powerful ally and its main arms supplier.
Electronics giant
Despite its small size, the democratic island is one of the most important economies in the world, in particular because of its role as a hub in the semiconductor industry, essential for the manufacture of high-tech products.
World leader in semiconductors, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) alone supplies nearly 50% of the world’s production of microchips smaller than 10 nanometers.
PHOTO ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
In this photo taken on May 26, 2010, Chinese workers assemble electronic components at the factory of Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn in Shenzhen.
Many leading Taiwanese technology companies have huge factories in China, Taipei’s largest trading partner. Among them, the giant Foxconn, which manufactures a wide range of electronic products, from Apple iPhones to laptops and game consoles.
Pioneer in Asia
In Asia, Taiwan is at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights with the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019, a first in this region of the world.
The island is considered one of the most progressive democracies on the continent, with more than 40% women in its Parliament, the highest rate in Asia.
Taiwan also remains a world model in terms of recycling and selective waste sorting.
Candidates for the presidential election
Three candidates are vying to become Taiwan’s next president in Saturday’s vote, closely followed by neighboring China and the rest of the world.
Relations with Beijing, but also economic policy and measures for youth are among the main issues in the race to succeed President Tsai Ing-wen, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), after eight years in power.
Lai Ching-te
PHOTO ANN WANG, REUTERS
Lai Ching-te
Vice-president for four years, Lai Ching-te of the DPP is the favorite in the polls.
This son of a miner studied in the United States at Harvard and was a doctor before entering politics almost 30 years ago, becoming mayor of Tainan, in the southwest of the island, then prime minister.
He has described himself in the past as a “pragmatic Taiwanese independence activist.” Beijing, which considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, described him and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim, Taipei’s former representative in Washington, as a “dangerous pro-independence duo”.
Mr Lai, 64, said the elections are a choice between “democracy and autocracy”, and pledged his “unwavering” support for maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
“Peace has no price and there are no winners in war,” he said during a television presentation.
In August, after a visit by Mr. Lai to Paraguay including two stops in the United States, China organized huge military exercises around Taiwan.
Hoping to appeal to young voters, many of whom are disillusioned after eight years of DPP rule, Mr Lai has promised to raise wages, cut taxes and provide more public housing.
Hou Yu-ih
PHOTO ALASTAIR PIKE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Hou Yu-ih (center)
Former police chief and mayor of New Taipei City, Hou Yu-ih is the candidate of the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), favorable to rapprochement with Beijing.
Aged 66, he entered politics in 2010 by becoming deputy mayor of New Taipei, the largest constituency in Taiwan (4 million inhabitants), then mayor in 2018.
Mr. Hou describes the election as a choice “between war and peace” and said his three-decade career in law enforcement would allow him to “protect Taiwan.”
“I can maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait and I will do my best to avoid war so that everyone can live in peace,” he said at a recent meeting of campaign.
Mr. Hou criticizes the DPP for its economic record and promises, if elected, to negotiate a vast trade pact with China “as soon as possible”.
Ko Wen-je
PHOTO CHIANG YING-YING, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ko Wen-je
Ko Wen-je, 64, founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in 2019 to offer a third choice against the two dominant parties.
The former surgeon was new to politics when he ran for and won the Taipei mayoralty in 2014. It was the first time an independent candidate had been elected to the position.
Nicknamed “Ko P” in reference to his experience as a professor of medicine, Mr. Ko presents himself as a “reasonable and pragmatic” alternative to the two major parties which, according to him, “many voters no longer support”.
His cheeky style earned him some support, especially among young people. But his detractors accuse him of often turning his back on important issues, particularly LGBTQ rights, in one of the only Asia-Pacific countries where same-sex marriage is legal.
In an interview with AFP, Mr. Ko estimated that “relations between the DPP government and Beijing are at an impasse”. He wants to strengthen the island’s self-defense capabilities in order to make Beijing understand that a war “has a high price”, while emphasizing that “communication can prevent shooting by mistake”.