TAIPEI, Taiwan—Taiwan’s China-friendly Nationalist Party is likely to lose power to the pro-independence opposition in Saturday’s presidential election, amid concerns that the island’s economy is under threat from China and broad opposition among voters to Beijing’s demands for political unification.
The Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-wen appears poised to become the self-governing island’s first female president, returning the main opposition party to power after eight years under Nationalist President Ma Ying-jeou, who is constitutionally barred from running for another term.
The outcome in the contest Saturday for a majority in the 133-seat legislature remains uncertain, with independents and smaller parties posing a threat to both the Nationalists and the DPP.
Candidates spent the day Friday touring their districts in a final appeal to voters on the island of 23 million.
A win for Tsai would introduce new uncertainty in the complicated relationship between Taiwan and mainland China, which claims the island as its own territory and threatens to use force if it declares formal independence.
