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TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S presidential hopefuls on Sunday emphasised the island's separate identity but called for better transport links with rival China as they squared off in their first televised debate.
'Certainly I'm Taiwanese - I'm 100 per cent Taiwanese,' said frontrunner Ma Ying Jeou, a former mayor of Taipei who is standing for the Kuomintang (KMT), which favours closer political, business and social ties with China.
'I grew up here drinking Taiwan water, eating Taiwan rice,' said the Hong Kong-born Ma.
'If elected, I would not talk with the mainland on the issue of unification,' he said in a direct response to his critics, who have questioned his loyalty and suggested he could sell Taiwan out to Beijing if elected.
Mr Ma is leading Mr Frank Hsieh of the ruling independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by about 20 points in opinion polls, after the KMT drubbed the DPP in January legislative elections.
'Actions rather than words should be used to examine if one loves Taiwan,' Mr Hsieh told voters, hitting out at Mr Ma for once holding a US residency card during his student days.
The two candidates are vying to succeed Chen Shui-bian, who will retire from political life when his second and final four-year term expires in May.
Taiwan's identity, relations with China and the economy are the key issues in the campaign ahead of the March 22 vote.
Both Mr Ma and Mr Hsieh pledged to improve transport links with China, which were all but cut off when the two split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Beijing still views Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification.
The candidates will face off in a second televised debate on March 9. -- AFP
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