Taiwan's election taboo: why both sides kept quiet about cross-strait ties
Taiwan's local elections were notable for the fact that candidates tiptoed around the issue of mainland relations for fear of upsetting swing voters
The Taiwan local elections were intense races but there was one area of political ground that candidates from both the pro-Beijing and pro-independence camps tiptoed around - cross-strait ties.
Candidates have usually been keen to stake their claim on the issue but this time around they avoided it for fear of upsetting swing voters. That's because it has become a particularly sensitive area since protests erupted in March against a service trade pact with the mainland, with students occupying the Legislative Yuan - the island's parliament - in what became known as the "sunflower movement".
"In the past, cross-strait policies were one of the excuses for the ruling party and opposition parties to attack each other in campaigns, but the 'sunflower movement' reminded candidates that it was better to be silent on the issue," Michael Tseng from Taipei's Shih Hsin University said.
Chou Po-ya, a Democratic Progressive Party candidate running for a Taipei City Council seat, said most DPP candidates did not wade into controversial cross-strait policy and trade pact waters because these were local elections and they wanted to focus on domestic issues.
But he did say that the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong proved that the KMT's pro-Beijing stance was wrong.