The ruling party candidate is leading the race for the Taiwanese presidency with half of the votes counted, according to local media reports.

Polls closed on Saturday in Taiwan’s presidential and parliamentary election that will chart the trajectory of the self-ruled democracy’s relations with China over the next four years.

At stake is the peace and stability of the island, 100 miles off the coast of China, that Beijing claims as its own and to be retaken by force if necessary.

China has called the poll a choice between war and peace.

Beijing strongly opposes the front-runner, current vice president Lai Ching-te of the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Mr Lai and incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen reject China’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan, a former Japanese colony that split from the mainland amid civil war in 1949.

They have, however, offered to speak with Beijing, which has repeatedly refused to hold talks and called them separatists.

Beijing is believed to favour the candidate from the more China-friendly Nationalist party, also known as Kuomintang, or KMT.

Its candidate, Hou Yu-ih, has also promised to restart talks with China while bolstering national defence. He promised not to move toward unifying the two sides of the Taiwan Strait if elected.

A third candidate in the race, Ko Wen-je of the smaller Taiwan People’s Party, or TPP, has drawn the support particularly of young people wanting an alternative to the KMT and DPP, Taiwan’s traditional opposing parties, which have largely taken turns governing since the 1990s.

Mr Ko has also stated he wants to speak with Beijing, and that his bottom line would be that Taiwan needs to remain democratic and free.

The US, which is bound by its laws to provide Taiwan with the weapons needed to defend itself, has pledged support for whichever government emerges, reinforced by the Biden administration’s plans to send an unofficial delegation made up of former senior officials to the island shortly after the election.

Beside the China tensions, domestic issues such as the dearth of affordable housing and stagnating wages have dominated the campaign.