Tsai Ing-wen Wins DPP Presidential Primary

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has taken a key step towards re-election by winning her party's primary.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) announced that Tsai beat her challenger, former premier William Lai, in three days of polling.

According to DPP chairman Cho Jung-tai, Tsai received approval from 35.7 percent of about 16,000 people polled over the phone between Monday and Wednesday, and Lai got approval from 27.5 percent.

Tsai's nomination is all but sure to be ratified by the party next week.

She will face a candidate from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) in the January election.

Five hopefuls, including Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu and former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu, are trying to become the KMT's nominee.

If Chu gets the nod, that would set up a re-match of the 2016 presidential election when he was beaten by Tsai.

The incumbent president fell in opinion polls last year as Taiwanese worried about inaction towards Beijing and stubborn domestic economic issues such as jobs and housing prices.

But she has gained momentum this year by hitting out at Beijing over its insistence that it could someday take control of Taiwan.

President Xi Jinping said in January that Taiwan should be ruled like Hong Kong. But the DPP has rejected the One Country, Two Systems principle being applied to the island.

The opposition KMT favours closer relations with Beijing. (AP)