it was different from the nationalists‘ kuomintang.t the people's republic of china, the world's most populous country, was proclaimed a communist state. until the day, the people's liberation army led by mao zedong had fought a bitter civil war against the nationalists. now they were victorious, and mao took over the reins of government. translation: at that time i thought our country would become a communist society where everybody could be fed and everyone would have a job. in the old society, this was unimaginable. i saw hunger and death at every corner in pre—revolutionary beijing, but no—one cared about it. ever since childhood, my life was tough. when i was six, my father died, and my mother and i had to go on the streets and beg for a living. it was hard trying to survive. everyone was poor. people gave us free buns and bread which help keep us alive for a while. after trying lots of different ways to keep food on the table, my mother had to marry again to survive. i went to a local factory to learn how to make and fix bikes, b

it was different from the nationalists' kuomintang.he ist 1949 was the day that the people's republic of china, the world's most populous country, was proclaimed a communist state. until the day, the people's liberation army led by mao zedong had fought a bitter civil war against the nationalists. now they were victorious, and mao took over the reins of government. translation: at that time i thought our country would become a communist country where everybody could be fed and everyone would have a job. in the old society, this was unimaginable. i saw hunger and death at every corner in pre—revolutionary beijing, but no—one cared about it. ever since childhood, my life was tough. when i was six, my father died, and my mother and i had to go on the streets and beg for a living. it was hard trying to survive. everyone was poor. people gave us free buns and bread which help keep us alive for a while. after trying lots of different ways to keep food on the table, my mother had to marry again to survive. i went to a local factory to learn h

progressive party tend to favour moves towards outright independence, whereas supporters of the kuomintangoser relations with beijing. cindy sui is in taipei for us — i asked her how voting was going. the crowd has thinned out a little bit. people are still very eagerly coming into polling stations like this one throughout taiwan, and patiently waiting for their chance to vote. they brought their id cards and are turning in their mobile phones and going into rooms like this one, classrooms actually in this middle school, to cast their ballot. they have a very, very tough decision to make. they have to decide whether they believe in president tsai ing—wen‘s message that china is a threat and taiwan should keep a distance from mainland china, or mayor han kuo—yu's message that taiwan needs china and needs it economically, and to ensure peace between the two sides. they have to make this very tough decision. i've covered many elections in taiwan, and no other election has made china such a central issue. part of the reason is because of the hong kong protests. the months—long hong kong protes

. >> reporter: han represents the opposition kuomintang party, hich favors closer ties w beijing, arguingt it would bring more economic benefit and security for taiwan-- a view supported by much of the older generation. >> on average, there seems to be a pretty big generation gap. why do you think that is? >> reporter: shelley rigger is a visiting scholar at the national taiwan university. she has been holding focus groups as part of her research on the political attitudes of taiwanese yout >> ieel that a lot of old people feel that it's important to focus on the economy more than identity. >> reporter: all in their early 20s, the partipants are students or research assistants at the university.el >> what u.s.ionship really gives taiwanese people is a new hope for rejoining the global society. that's something exciting forhe us, especiallyounger generation. >> reporter: topics covered include international relations, identity issues, and the hong kong protests which has impacted the elections. >> we have this kind of connection with those protestors, not only emotionally but also practica