Taiwan president urges China to maintain peace ahead of election

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called on Beijing to help maintain peace in the region in a New Year’s speech, two weeks before a hotly contested election dominated by debate over the island’s ties with China.

“We hope that both sides of the Taiwan Strait can return to healthy and constructive exchanges,” Tsai said. “We will not provoke or submit, but we will earn the international community’s trust and deepen our cooperation with democratic partners, so that we can confidently and calmly face the world and China.”

Tsai’s remarks come ahead of the presidential election on Jan. 13, that will also help shape the course of U.S.-China relations for years. Her Democratic Progressive Party seeks to strengthen Taipei’s ties with Washington, while the opposition Kuomintang is Beijing’s preferred negotiating partner. The presidential candidates traded barbs over the issue of China in a debate over the weekend, but all three said they welcomed direct dialogue with Beijing.