The ruling DPP, which defends Taiwan's separate identity, will seek a third term in Saturday's election.
China's military has vowed to “crush” any efforts to promote Taiwan independence, a day before a crucial election on the self-ruled island that Beijing claims is part of its territory.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended the final pre-election rallies in Taiwan on Friday ahead of critical presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday.
“The Chinese People's Liberation Army maintains high vigilance at all times and will take all necessary measures to firmly crush attempts at 'Taiwan independence' in all its forms,” said Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang. , it's a statement.
Responding to a question about Taiwan's air force upgrading F-16 fighter jets and purchasing more from the United States, Xiaogang said that even with American weapons purchases the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) “cannot stop the trend towards the complete reunification of the homeland.” .
Taiwan has been a democratic success story since it held its first direct presidential election in 1996, the culmination of decades of struggle against authoritarian rule and martial law.
The DPP, which defends Taiwan's separate identity and rejects China's territorial claims, will seek a third term with its candidate, current Vice President Lai Ching-te.
China has framed the election as a choice between “peace and war,” calling the DPP dangerous separatists and urging Taiwanese to make the “right decision.”
The DPP has rejected China's sovereignty claims and said only the people of Taiwan can decide its future. Speaking at a rally in Taipei's neighboring city of New Taipei, Lai said the world was watching how Taiwan voted.
“If Taiwan moves closer to China again, it will lose its advantage and foreign investment in Taiwan will be more likely to be suspended or stopped,” he told the crowd. “Therefore, Taiwan must win this battle.”
China repeatedly denounced Lai in the run-up to Saturday's election and rejected repeated calls from him for talks.
Al Jazeera's Tony Cheng, reporting from Taipei, said Taiwan had witnessed Chinese military actions “in the background” over the past few weeks. “There have been military exercises, information-gathering balloons flying overhead and we have even seen in the last week a Chinese satellite causing an island-wide alert,” Cheng said.
Lai faces two presidential opponents: Hou Yu-ih of Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), and former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je of the small Taiwan People's Party (TPP). , founded only in 2019.
Hou wants to restart engagement with China, starting with people-to-people exchanges, and like China, he accused Lai of supporting Taiwan's formal independence. Lai has said that Hou is pro-Beijing, which Hou rejected.
“If Lai Ching-te is elected, the Taiwan Strait will likely fall into chaos. Do you also want Taiwan to fall into war, friends? Hou said to his followers.
Ko has gained a passionate support base, especially among young voters, by focusing on everyday issues like the high cost of housing. He also wants to reengage with China, but insists that cannot come at the expense of protecting Taiwan's democracy and way of life.
Al Jazeera's Cheng said: “All three parties can see that China is a threat and their platforms are more or less the same when it comes to China, so this [election] It can be reduced to internal issues.”
Polls open at 08:00 local time (00:00 GMT) and close at 16:00 (08:00 GMT), and manual vote counting begins almost immediately.
The outcome should be clear by late Saturday afternoon, when the losers concede defeat and the winner gives a victory speech.
