TAIPEI - Taiwan's opposition parties, which seek closer ties with China, registered separate presidential candidates on Nov 24 after splitting dramatically, easing the way for the ruling party, which champions the island's own identity, to stay in power.
The Jan 13 election is taking place as China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, steps up military and political pressure to force the island to accept its sovereignty claims.
The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and much smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP), both campaigning to forge better ties with China, had previously agreed to work together against the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) but had made no progress on plans for a united presidential ticket.
China, which has framed the election as a choice between "peace and war", believes the DPP and its presidential candidates are dangerous separatists and has rebuffed offers of talks.
The KMT's Hou Yu-ih named fiery media personality Jaw Shaw-kong as his vice-presidential running mate on Nov 24 and filed formal papers to run in the election.
"The failure of the (KMT-TPP) coalition has disappointed 60 per cent of the public," Mr Hou said before registering his candidacy.
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