Polls close in key Taiwan election

Polls closed in Taiwan in an election where voters were deciding on whether independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen would be elected for a second term.

Ballots were counted by polling station staff after voting ended at 4pm (0800GMT) on Saturday.

Results were expected in the evening.

Tsai and her main challenger, Han Kuo-yu of the Nationalist Party, both voted shortly after polls opened at 8am (0000GMT).

A third-party candidate, James Soong, is also running but has virtually no chance of winning.

Taiwan has developed its own identity since separating from China during civil war in 1949 but has never declared formal independence.

Beijing still claims sovereignty over the island of 23 million people and threatens to use force to seize control if necessary.

For many in Taiwan, the protests in Hong Kong have driven home the contrast between their democratically governed island and authoritarian, communist-ruled mainland China.

The Nationalist Party's Han has said Taiwan should be more open to negotiations with China, in contrast to Tsai, who has dismissed Beijing's overtures.

The island of more than 23 million people exercises all the roles of a sovereign nation, issuing its own passports, maintaining its own military and legal system and serving as a crucial hub in the global high-tech supply chain.