Taiwan presidential front-runner Tsai Ing-wen said Friday she will seek peaceful relations with China if she wins Saturday's election, and Beijing again warned the self-ruled island against any moves toward independence.
Since the 2008 election of the China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou from the Nationalist Party, which is also known as the Kuomintang, ties have improved rapidly, with a series of landmark trade and business deals signed and Ma holding a historic meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November.
But Tsai and her independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are looked at with great suspicion by China, which considers Taiwan a rebel province to be brought under its control, by force if necessary.