Polls opened on Saturday in Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan's two major cities, where voters will choose mayors and councilors.

Six candidates are competing in the race for mayor of Taipei, including Hau Lung-bin from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), who has been leading the race according to surveys.

Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and People First Party chairman James Soong were also vying for the Taipei post.

A total of 113 candidates are vying for 52 seats on Taipei City Council, which currently dominated by the KMT.

Five candidates are running for Kaohsiung mayor. KMT's Huang Chun-ying and DPP's Chen Chu are the major competitors.

A total of 77 candidates are vying for 44 seats in the Kaohsiung City council, where no party holds a majority.

In Saturday's elections, polling stations in the two cities opened at 8:00 a.m. and are due to close in the afternoon, results will be known late Saturday evening.

Source: Xinhua