Taiwan elections: Vote count starts as polling comes to an end

The counting of votes began as polling came to an end in Taiwan's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Millions of eligible voters on Saturday cast their votes in a total of 17,794 polling stations set up across the island nation of 24 million people.

The island's eighth presidential election is being viewed as one of the most consequential in recent history.

Taiwan's Legislative Assembly has 113 seats, serving four-year terms, 73 of which will be decided on Saturday, six are reserved for indigenous candidates, while the remaining 34 will be picked by proportional representation.

Vice President William Lai Ching-te from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is running against the opposition Kuomintang's Hou Yu-ih and TaiwanPeople's Party (TPP) nominee Ko Wen-je.

Under the DPP, Taiwan has seen more engagement with Western nations led by the US, much to the chagrin of Beijing.

Kuomintang, or Nationalist, on the other hand, has campaigned for more engagement with Beijing.

Taiwan began holding its first direct presidential elections in 1996 and the last two elections saw turnouts of 74.9% in 2020 and 66.27% in 2016.

'Chinese balloons'

Taiwan's Defense Ministry on Saturday claimed that it detected two more Chinese balloons crossing the Taiwan Strait over the past 24 hours.

The ministry said on X that it also detected eight aircraft and six ships, with one of the aircraft entering southwest Air Defense Information Zone (ADIZ). Beijing does not recognise the ADIZ.

The statement came just hours ahead of the beginning of polling in Taiwan's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Last week, Taiwan said that four Chinese balloons flew past skies over the Island.

China considers Taiwan its breakaway province. Taipei, however, has insisted on its independence since 1949.