What’s at stake for the global economy as Taiwan goes to the polls

When Taiwan heads to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president and legislature, their votes will be keenly watched at home and abroad. That’s because the self-ruled island of 23 million people has an outsized impact on the global business and trade, mainly because of its world-beating chips industry.

When Taiwan heads to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president and legislature, their votes will be keenly watched at home and abroad. That’s because the self-ruled island of 23 million people has an outsized impact on the global business and trade, mainly because of its world-beating chips industry. But China has ramped up military aggression against Taiwan in recent times, sending jitters globally. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly said Beijing plans to “reunify” Taiwan with China. The Communist Party has claimed the island as its own territory, despite never having controlled it. Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the island’s vice president and the front-runner for the top job, is openly loathed by Chinese officials for his past comments supporting Taiwan independence. He has tempered his stance to favor the status-quo of Taiwan’s de facto sovereignty, but Beijing has continued to denounce him as a dangerous separatist and rebuffed his calls for talks. China has ramped up pressure on Taiwan in the lead-up to the elections, casting them as a choice between “war and peace” or “prosperity and recession.” Although Beijing is not expected to launch a war in the near term, an increase in military or economic pressure is likely to follow if Lai is elected.