FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014 file photo, supporters of Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party watch TV for the election results in Taipei, Taiwan, as preliminary vote count shows Taiwan's pro-China ruling party has suffered stiff defeats in municipal elections. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)(The Associated Press)
FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014 photo, police officers throw a pro-democracy protester on the main road outside government headquarters in Hong Kong as hundreds of pro-democracy protesters faced off with Hong Kong police, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after being camped out on the city's streets for more than two months. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)(The Associated Press)
In this Nov. 10, 2014 file photo, Vincent Siew, second left, chairman of the Taiwan-based Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation, and his wife Chu Su-hsien, left, are greeted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, second right, and his wife Peng Liyuan before a welcome dinner for APEC leaders at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Xi just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)(The Associated Press)
FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 1, 2014 file photo, a protester is arrested by police officers outside government headquarters in Hong Kong as pro-democracy protesters try to surround the headquarters, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after camping out on the city's streets for more than two months. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)(The Associated Press)
FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014 file photo, pro-democracy protesters scuffle with police officers on the main road outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after being camped out on the city's streets for more than two months. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)(The Associated Press)
TAIPEI, Taiwan An electoral pummeling for Taiwan's pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy.
Xi's message of a better economic future by joining forces with Beijing rather than aligning against it doesn't seem to be working with the electorate in Taiwan, where voters turned out in droves over the weekend to support the chief opposition Democratic Progressive Party in local elections.
The DPP advocates more distance between Taiwan and China and taps into concerns many Taiwanese have over any eventual unification with authoritarian Beijing.
Likewise, Xi's message is not working with the Hong Kong protesters, who clashed with police early Monday as they tried to surround government headquarters to revitalize their flagging movement in the face of Beijing's intransigence on democratic reforms.
The Hong Kong protests reminded Taiwanese voters of what Taiwan could become in the event of unification with China, said Kweibo Huang, associate professor of diplomacy at National Chengchi University in Taipei.
Read more:
Poll defeats, pro-democracy protests a challenge for China's Xi in handling Taiwan, Hong Kong