Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has released a campaign ad that makes use of the unrest in Hong Kong to drive home a message.

The self-ruled island is holding its presidential and legislative elections on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020.

Tsai is running for reelection against Han Kuo-yu, the presidential candidate for the Kuomintang (KMT).

Safe Taiwan versus dangerous Hong Kong

The ad, released on Tuesday, Jan. 7, shows mundane, everyday scenes in Taiwan, such as youngsters playing video games, and a Taipei resident falling asleep on the last train.

The ad contrasted such peaceful scenes with images of the protests and unrest in Hong Kong -- a city that many Taiwanese commiserate and stand in solidarity with.

For instance, the ad showed a news clipping of the mysterious death of 15-year-old Chan Yin-lam (Chrissy) in Hong Kong.

It also showed video clips of the clashes between protesters and police, such as the brutal beatings that the Hong Kong police unleashed on protesters on Aug. 31, 2019, in a stationary train at Prince Edward station.

The voice-over in the video urged voters to defend the island's sovereignty on election day.

Tsai denied using Hong Kong for electoral purposes

The campaign video was released despite Tsai previously denying on Dec. 10, 2019, that she was "using" the protests in Hong Kong as a campaign weapon, Reuters reported.

She said Taiwan has always been supportive of the Hong Kong people's fight for democracy, adding that rather than "using" the Hong Kong people, the Taiwanese are being made aware of the importance of freedom after seeing what has happened in Hong Kong.

Tsai had made the remarks in response to criticisms from Han that she was using the Special Administrative Region as a tool.

In contrast with Han, who consistently refused to name China as the country that poses the greatest threat to Taiwan, Tsai has adopted a firm stance against Beijing, reiterating Taiwan's sovereignty and democracy.

Beijing sees Taiwan as a wayward province that has to be brought back into the fold of the motherland, by force if necessary.

Tsai's major turnaround

Tsai's performance in opinion polls started picking up after she defended Taiwan's sovereignty following Chinese President Xi Jinping's 2019 New Year's speech that urged Taiwan to return to the motherland.

The gradual rise in her popularity since then is a major turnaround from the DPP's crushing defeat in the 2018 local elections, which led to Tsai stepping down as the DPP's chair.

Tsai is currently polling way ahead of Han in final opinion polls before election day.

You can watch the campaign video here:

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Top image via La Tai Pai/YouTube