Taiwan’s presidential candidate Ko Wen-je seeks a middle ground with China, attracting young voters

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
Associated Press

HSINCHU, Taiwan (AP) — With Taiwan’s presidential and parliamentary elections less than two weeks away, the island’s alternative party candidate and chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party, Ko Wen-je, is promoting a policy of patience toward China, which has been upping its threat to annex the island by force. Ko, a surgeon and former mayor of the capital Taipei, likened the relationship between the sides to a tumor that should be left to itself while the sides engage in talks on a future relationship. Taiwan split from China amid civil war in 1949. The presidential polls remain close, but Ko’s relatively new party lacks the financing and community bases of its two main rivals.