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Taiwan elections

Taiwan Inc. weighs loyalty to mainland in presidential election

Pro-business crowd has drawn closer to Tsai's DPP amid trade war risks

Pedestrians in Taipei walk past campaign posters featuring President Tsai Ing-wen, left, and her challenger Han Kuo-yu. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

TAIPEI -- With next month's presidential election billed as a referendum on Taiwan's relationship with China, business leaders are reassessing their traditional loyalty to the mainland and the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang as trade war risks grow.

Taiwanese businesspeople operating in China, commonly known as taishang, will shortly begin returning home in droves. They number between 400,000 and 1 million, and about 200,000 are expected to return and vote for Han Kuo-yu, the main opposition Kuomintang candidate, according to a party insider.

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