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- Polls have closed in Taiwan. The island’s about 19.5 million registered voters, had eight hours to cast thier ballot.
- Counting is now underway and a result is expected in a number of hours.
- Turnout looked to be strong – large queues were reported as polling stations opened, while Taiwan Railways said a record 758,000 tickets were sold on Friday, suggesting many people were travelling back home to vote.
- Voters had the choice of William Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), looking to give the party a third term in office, Hou Yu-ih of the more conservative and Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) and Ko Wen-je of the smaller Taiwan’s People Party (TPP).
- Taiwan’s ministry of defence said it detected eight Chinese military aircraft, six Chinese vessels and two Chinese balloons in the hours leading up to the election. Beijing has framed the election as a choice between war and peace.
- Taiwan’s election carries an outsized importance because of the territory’s disputed political status. While de facto independent since the 1940s, Beijing still claims the island and its outlying territories and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its ambitions.