Taiwan heads to the polls on Saturday in one of the most closely watched elections this year.
The island’s 19 million-plus voters will elect a new president in a three-way contest between Vice-President William Lai Ching-te from the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Hou Yu-ih from the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) party, and Ko Wen-je from the newer Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
If Lai wins, it will be the first time the independence-leaning DPP has stayed in power for three consecutive terms since the direct presidential election system was introduced in 1996.
The stakes are particularly high, with the results expected to shape cross-strait relations as well as US-China ties.
Polling at more than 17,000 stations across the island will end at 4pm, with counting set to follow right after. Results are expected by the evening.
Reporting by Lawrence Chung, Kinling Lo, Amber Wang, Dewey Sim, Hayley Wong and Josephine Ma
