Candidates of Taiwan's deputy leader in 2016 election debate on TV

Three deputy leader candidates in Taiwan's 2016 election held their first and only televised debate Saturday afternoon.

The debate was broadcast live on Sanlih E-Television, a cable news channel.

The candidates, Wang Ju-hsuan of the Kuomintang (KMT), Chen Chien-jen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Hsu Hsin-ying of the People First Party (PFP), were discussing their responses to six questions selected from thousands submitted by the public. They then took part in a cross-examination debate.

The questions covered the issues of legislature reform, government efficiency, female rights, disease control, education reform and wages.

Wang, 54, is a lawyer who served as head of the island's labor department from 2008 to 2012.

Chen, 64, was vice president of the island's research institute Academia Sinica from 2011 to November this year. He was also head of the health department from 2003 to 2005.

Hsu, 43, is a satellite engineering scientist and has been a legislator since 2012.

Eric Chu of the KMT, Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP and James Soong of the PFP, the leader candidates, will hold their first TV debate on Sunday and another will follow on Jan. 2.

TV debates, sponsored by four daily newspapers, a news agency and public TV station, have been a regular fixture of the elections since 2004. This year's debates were scheduled later than normal because the DPP refused to follow the previous protocol and pushed to reschedule the debates.

It was not until late last week that the three pairs finally agreed on the debate schedule. The sponsors also increased to nine, adding one cable TV channel and two websites.

Besides the leader's election, Taiwan residents will also elect legislators. The two elections are slated for Jan. 16. Endi