Taiwan: Oppn picks pro-China presidential candidate

Around 45 per cent of respondents supported pro-Beijing Han in telephone opinion surveys over the past week.

Taipei City: After the visit of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to the US, its main opposition the Nationalist Party on Monday picked up a pro-Beijing mayor Han Kuo-yu for the upcoming presidential election to be held in January.

Telephone opinion surveys over the past week suggested 45 percent of respondents supported Han.

On the other hand, Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party often bashes Beijing.

Earlier in March, Han signed deals with four Chinese cities to sell Taiwanese agricultural products worth of 5.2 billion New Taiwan dollars (165 million US dollars).

Ruling DPP suffered a major setback in the local elections held in November mainly due to voter dissatisfaction over the fragile economy. Han was elected as mayor of Kaohsiung city that is a ruling-party stronghold.

After the elections, the ruling party took a tough stance against the Beijing.

In 1949, China and Taiwan separated during the civil war but Beijing still claims sovereignty over the island.