Taiwan's presidential rivals will hold mass rallies on Friday in a final push to convince voters ahead of a closely watched election that looks set to infuriate China and send ripples far beyond its borders.

Some 19 million people are eligible to vote on Saturday to choose between two leaders with very different visions for Taiwan's future -- in particular how close the self-ruled island should tack to its giant neighbour.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to one day retake the island, by force if necessary.

But China is also Taiwan's largest trade partner.

President Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking a second term, has pitched herself as a defender of Taiwan's liberal values against the increasingly authoritarian shadow cast by Beijing under President Xi Jinping.

"Choosing Tsai Ing-wen... means we choose our future and choose to stand with democracy and stand with freedom," Tsai, 63, told reporters on Friday during a campaign stop.

Her main competitor Han Kuo-yu, 62, favours much warmer ties with China -- saying it would boost the island's fortunes -- and accuses the current administration of needlessly antagonising Beijing.

"We want change, we want to rediscover happiness, prosperty and pride for Taiwanese people," Han told a huge rally in the capital on Thursday night, the crowd in front a sea of swaying red and blue national flags.

Both candidates are planning final mass rallies on Friday night as they try to mop up swing voters for both the presidency and the unicameral parliament.

Taiwan bans the publishing polls within 10 days of elections but Tsai has led comfortably throughout the campaign. Her party currently has a parliamentary majority, which analysts expect them to retain.

"It would take a huge shift from the final polls for Han to win," said Shelley Rigger, a Taiwan expert at North Carolina's Davidson College.

- Pressure campaign -

Beijing has made no secret of its desire to see Tsai ousted.

Her Democratic Progressive Party leans towards independence, and Tsai rejects Beijing's view that Taiwan is part of "one China".

In the four years since Tsai won a landslide victory, Beijing has tightened the screw, severing official communications with her administration while ramping up economic and military pressure.

It also poached seven of Taiwan's few remaining diplomatic allies, hopeful that a stick approach would convince voters to punish Tsai at the ballot box.

But the campaign appears to have backfired, especially in the last year after Xi gave a particularly bellicose speech stating Taiwan's absorption into the mainland was "inevitable".

Taiwanese voters were increasingly rattled by China's hardline response to pro-democracy protests in neighbouring Hong Kong and the mass internment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

- Reversal -

A year ago Tsai looked a lame-duck president, languishing in the polls after the DPP received a thumping at local mid-term elections.

But analysts say Tsai's ability to seize on the protests in Hong Kong, as well as Taiwan's successful economic navigation of the US-China trade war, have boosted her fortunes.

"Tsai has convincingly presented herself as the best person to defend Taiwan's sovereignty," Bonnie Glaser, an expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told AFP.

Her rival Han, from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), has struggled on the campaign trail.

A plain-speaking populist, he stormed onto the political scene in 2018 when he won the mayoralty of the usually staunch DPP city Kaohsiung.

But his political momentum slowed once he became the opposition candidate as he fought to shake off accusations he lacked experience and was too cosy with Beijing.

"Han Kuo-yu was a bad choice for the KMT," said Glaser. "He has made many gaffes and provided little details about his policies."

Still, the KMT are not going down without a fight -- portraying Tsai as a dangerous leader pushing Taiwan towards conflict.

The results of Saturday's vote will also be closely watched by regional powers and in Washington, especially given the parlous state of US-China relations.

Taiwan has long been a potential flashpoint between Beijing and Washington, which remains the island's main military ally.

The state of Taiwan: Five things to know
Taipei (AFP) Jan 10, 2020 - Taiwan, which holds presidential elections on January 11, has been politically separated from China for the last seven decades but faces the threat of attack by Beijing should it ever declare independence.

Here are some key facts about the self-ruled democratic island, which has its own currency, flag, military and government but is not recognised as an independent state by the UN and most nations.

- China split -

After being defeated by the Communist Party in 1949, China's nationalist government fled to the island province of Taiwan 180 kilometres (110 miles) off the mainland.

President Chiang Kai-shek, joined by two million supporters, set up his authoritarian Republic of China (ROC) government in Taipei. This remains Taiwan's official name.

The Communists established the People's Republic of China in Beijing, and have since insisted the island must be reintegrated, threatening force should it declare independence.

In 1991 Taiwan lifted emergency rule, unilaterally ending the state of war with China, and has emerged a vibrant liberal democracy. The first direct talks between Beijing and Taipei were held two years later.

Relations plummeted with the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rejects Beijing's "one China" principle.

- Struggle for recognition -

Today home to 23 million people, the island has been progressively squeezed off the international stage by the more powerful Beijing.

The ROC government held a seat at the United Nations until the world body switched recognition to Beijing in 1971, and other countries and international groups soon followed suit.

Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979, agreeing it was the only representative of China.

But the United States has remained deliberately ambiguous on Taiwan's future status and is bound by an act of Congress to maintain de facto diplomatic ties, as well as supply the island with weapons to defend itself.

Over the years Beijing has convinced most countries to sever diplomatic ties with Taipei and keep it out of international bodies such as the World Health Organization.

Last year the Solomon Islands and Kiribati became the latest to defect, leaving Taiwan recognised by just 15 states -- most of them minnows in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific, as well as the Vatican.

- Electronics giant -

Taiwan's export-based economy is one of the largest in Asia, but is dwarfed by that of China on which it depends for much of its business.

Transformed into a major tech manufacturing hub, the island is home to industry giants such as Foxconn, the world's largest electronic devices manufacturer, which assembles gadgets for major brands including Apple and Huawei.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the world's leading contract microchip maker, also supplying Apple and other tech giants.

Despite the global trade war, Taiwan posted third-quarter GDP growth of 2.9 percent last year, far outpacing neighbours such as Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.

- Asian pioneer -

Last May, Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage. It held its first same-sex weddings days later.

It is also a leader in gender equality, with 38 percent of seats in the 2016-elected parliament held by women, the highest proportion in Asia.

Tsai, who is running for re-election on Saturday, is its first female president.

Taipei 101 was the world's tallest building, at more than 500 metres (1,670 feet), until 2010 when it was overtaken by Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

- Indigenous inhabitants -

The vast majority of Taiwan's population are Han Chinese, with just two percent from its original indigenous tribes.

Most scholars consider Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia as the original source of the Austronesians, who include people in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, as well as New Zealand's Maoris, and Polynesians in Hawaii.

Taiwan's indigenous people suffered cultural and economic catastrophe once settlers landed on the island's shores from the 17th century.

Tsai, the first president with partial indigenous ancestry, via her grandmother, made history in 2016 when she formally apologised for the past.

But indigenous groups remain marginalised, with wages about 40 percent below the national average and higher unemployment.

Related Links
Taiwan News at SinoDaily.com

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Taiwan election candidates mourn victims of chopper crash
Taipei (AFP) Jan 4, 2020
Taiwan's presidential candidates paid tribute Saturday to the island's military chief and other officers who perished in a helicopter crash just days before key elections. President Tsai Ing-wen cancelled campaigning to visit a radar station that Shen Yi-ming and his entourage were bound for on Thursday when their chopper smashed into mountains near Taipei. The 62-year-old general was among eight killed in the crash, becoming Taiwan's highest-ranking military official to die on duty, while five ... read more