Taiwan goes to polls for general election

Voters across Taiwan began to flock to the polls early Saturday in an election forecast to result in a victory for the country's pro-independence from China movement.

Opponents of anticipated victor Tsai Ing-wen have suggested that if her opposition Democratic Progressive Party wins relations could deteriorate, as the country has not historically recognised the "one China" policy.

The present government of Kuomin Tang (KMT) candidate Eric Chu has seen an improvement in ties.

Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its sacred territory -- and has threatened to take it back by force if necessary -- however in a statement carried by state media Saturday, its Taiwan Affairs Office said it would not get involved in the vote, saying only that it was "paying attention to across the Taiwan Strait".

If Tsai wins, she would become the territory's first female leader.

The vote will see the country elect a new president, vice president and parliament members who will rule the country for the next four years.

The outgoing president -- the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou -- won the last presidential and parliamentary elections in 2012 for the second time with 7.65 million of the votes.

Taiwan has a population of 23 million and 18.6 million people are eligible to vote. Around 1.29 million voters are expected to go to the polls for the first time.

In Taiwan a party should have at least 50 percent of the votes to come into power alone.

Even if a party's candidate wins and his or her party is unable to get the 50 percent of the votes in parliamentary elections, it cannot come to power alone in terms of legislation.