Taiwan's Tsai on Track for Historic Win in Presidential Election
- Opposition leader would be island's first female president
- Ruling Kuomintang oversaw improving ties with mainland China
Voters wait in line to cast their vote at a polling station during a presidential election in Taipei, Taiwan, on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016. Photographer: Maurice Tsai/Bloomberg
Taiwan edged toward historic change Saturday, as voters headed to the polls in an election that could install the island’s first female president and oust the party that has overseen warming ties with mainland China.
Tsai Ing-wen, the head of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, has for months been seen as the favorite amid discontent over the stagnant economy, and the ruling Kuomintang’s Eric Chu would need a huge late surge to win the presidency. The DPP is also vying for control of the 113-seat Legislative Yuan, which would shut the KMT and its allies out of power for the first time since Chiang Kai-shek led them across the Taiwan Strait during the the Chinese civil war.