Tens of thousands of supporters flocked to noisy, colourful rallies for Taiwan’s three main political parties, as the candidates made a last push for votes in an election that China has warned could take the island closer to war. Taiwan’s bustling democracy of 23 million people is separated by a narrow 180-kilometre (110-mile) strait from communist-ruled China, which claims the island as part of its territory. The election is being closely watched around the world as the winner will lead the strategically important island – a major producer of vital semiconductors – as it manages ties with an increasingly assertive China. Vice President Lai Ching-te, the front-runner candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), paints the election as a choice between ‘democracy and autocracy’ – criticising his main opponent Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT) for being too ‘pro-China’. All three candidates – from the DPP, KMT, and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) – have said they will maintain the island’s status quo, and rejected ‘one country, two systems’, a Beijing doctrine used for governing Hong Kong and Macau. No matter who wins on January 13, it remains unclear which candidate Beijing prefers, said Marc Julienne, head of China research at the French Institute of International Relations.