Taiwan presidential hopeful Hou promises to boost island’s defense and restart talks with China

By SIMINA MISTREANU
Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — One of Taiwan’s leading opposition party candidates in Saturday’s presidential election has promised to boost the island’s defense capabilities while restarting dialogue with Beijing, which claims the island as its own. Hou Yu-ih, the presidential candidate from the opposition Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, on Thursday said he wants to “strengthen” Taiwan’s ability to protect itself to deter a potential attack from China. Most pre-election polls place Hou second after the governing Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate, William Lai, who currently serves as vice president under Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. A third candidate, Ko Wen-je from the smaller Taiwan People’s Party, is also running in the election.