Taiwan’s crucial presidential and parliamentary elections close under censorship by China’s Great Firewall.

China’s popular Mandarin social media platform Weibo blocked hashtags in the ongoing vote in Taipei after the topic became a hot topic among netizens.

“In accordance with relevant laws, regulations and policies, the content of this thread is not displayed,” is the message that now appears in searches for the hashtag ‘Taiwan Election’, underscoring the sensitivity of the affair.

The hashtag was removed in the morning, although users were still able to see some posts on the topic. China’s main news platforms – including the three official state-run Xinhua News Agency, the CCTV network and the People’s Daily – devoted little coverage to the vote in what they describe as the “Taiwan region of China”.

Taiwan holds votes today to elect a new president and a new parliament, in a “high-risk” vote that is expected to reverberate around the world.

The elections in the former island of Formosa with over 18,000 seats will determine the direction of relations with Beijing and regional stability, but above all the balance between China and the US.

Polling stations opened at 08:00 local time and closed at 16:00, while the results are expected to be clear in the evening.

The presidential election is an unprecedented three-way race. The favorite is William Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the current vice president. His challengers are Hou Yu-ih, the candidate of the Kuomintang Nationalists (KMT, backed by China) and Ko Wen-je, of the People’s Party (TPP). There are 19.5 million voters called to also renew the Parliament, the Legislative Yuan.

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