As Taiwan¡¯s election approaches next month, it is not only fraught ties with China competing for electors¡¯ attention.

The candidates are exchanging blows over everything from property disputes to whether drinking whisky is out of touch, in a raucous and freewheeling display of the island¡¯s democracy.

Taiwan¡¯s Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary election will define how the Chinese-claimed island deals with Beijing and the subject is indeed a major bone of contention.