Polls open in Taiwan’s key ‘recall election’ closely watched by China

In Taiwan’s high-stakes recall election, polls have begun, which could give the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of President William William Lai Ching-te’s government control of the country and a strong rebuke of China.

The island’s parliament’s major opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has received criticism for its role in Saturday’s polls as an assault on democracy. However, Taiwan’s government has also accused China of “unprecedented” interference with its democratic process.

24 Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers facing potential recalls, with polling stations opening at 8am local time (00:00 GMT). On August 23rd, KMT lawmakers will be asked to re-elect themselves.

To regain temporary control of parliament, President Lai’s DPP must unseat at least 12 KMT lawmakers, according to Eurasia Group, a risk analysis firm that calculates the outcome to have “a 60% probability.”

Later this year, Lai’s party would need to win six seats in by-elections to strengthen its hold on Taiwan’s 113-seat parliament.

In the days leading up to the crucial vote, which has dominated Taiwanese politics, newspaper headlines, and social media feeds for months, the DPP and KMT held rainy rallies.

The DPP lost its legislative majority despite Lai winning the election last year. Since then, the opposition has been able to flex its legislative muscles, passing laws the government has opposed and imposing budget cuts, which have hampered efforts to boost defense spending in particular.

China, which considers Taiwan as a part of its territory, has been making an effort to raise its military budget.

China launches a military and diplomatic pressure operation against Taiwan to assert its territorial claims over the island, which Lai and his government oppose.

Beijing has repeatedly rejected Lai’s repeated attempts to talk to China, which has labeled him a “separatist.”

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office and Chinese state media have frequently made comments on and even criticize Lai using the KMT’s talking points.

The Taiwanese people were in charge of deciding who should be removed from office or stay in office, according to Taipei, who stated this week that Beijing was “clearly” trying to “interfere in the election.”

The KMT is accused of selling Taiwan to China-based lawmakers who don’t support defense spending and causing chaos in parliament.

The KMT, which is more sympathetic toward China, rejects those accusations and denounces Lai’s “dictatorship” and “green terror,” in reference to the DPP’s party color.