Taiwan’s opposition to unite on presidential ticket challenging frontrunner

Taiwan’s two main opposition parties, which have vowed to renew talks with China, agreed on Wednesday to make a decision on a joint presidential ticket for January’s elections, as the front-running ruling party decried interference from Beijing.
The issue of China, which views Taiwan as its territory, looms over the Jan. 13 parliamentary and presidential elections. China has stepped up military and political pressure to press the island to accept its sovereignty claim, which Taiwan rejects, including high-profile war games.
Vice President Lai Ching-te, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, has almost consistently led opinion polls, leaving candidates of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), Hou Yu-ih, and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), Ko Wen-je, to battle it out for second place.
The KMT and TPP have been in acrimonious talks since last month on a united presidential bid, but had failed to agree how to decide who should be the presidential candidate and who should be the running mate.
After talks hosted by former president Ma Ying-jeou, also a senior KMT member, the two parties said they had agreed to use opinion polls conducted between Nov. 7 and this Friday to decide the make-up of the presidential bid with the result to be announced on Saturday.