Polls close in Taiwan election as China vows to ‘crush’ any move towards independence

VOTE COUNTING GOT underway today in Taiwan's presidential election, held in the shadow of threats from China that choosing the wrong leader could set the stage for war on the self-ruled island. Beijing slammed frontrunner Lai Ching-te, the current vice president, as a dangerous "separatist" in the days leading up to the poll and, on the eve of the vote, its defence ministry vowed to "crush" any move towards Taiwanese independence. Communist China claims democratic Taiwan, separated from the mainland by a 180-kilometre (110-mile) strait, as its own and says it will not rule out using force to bring about…