In many parts of the world, a politician might be hoping for a perfect moment with a voter’s baby to boost his poll numbers. But in Taiwan, vegetables are kings of the campaign.

Whenever the Democratic island of 23 million people goes into voting mode, potential candidates race to pose with a smorgasbord of vegetables — large white radishes are a favorite — to be gifted by voters hoping to garner their approval to show.

The reason is Taiwan’s penchant for homonyms: words that sound identical or similar but can have multiple meanings.

In a political culture steeped in auspicious symbols and superstitions — where candidates often seek the advice of feng shui masters when deciding the location or opening date of their campaign headquarters — photo ops with the right vegetables are routine.

Garlic (suan) is very popular because when pronounced in Taiwanese it also sounds like the word for “chosen”.

The daikon radish (tsai-tao) is a winner because it’s pronounced almost the same as “good luck,” while pineapple (ong-lai) is a homonym for “prosperity is coming.”

Ke Chiong-shu, 60, has been selling vegetables at the Wuxing Street Market in the capital, Taipei, for more than a decade.

Many of her district’s candidates have been visiting the market in recent weeks as Taiwan prepares to hold island-wide municipal elections on Saturday.

During a recent visit by AFP, it was former health minister Chen Shih-chung’s turn to press his skin in his campaign for Taipei mayor, one of the most important posts up for grabs this weekend.

Ke grabbed some radish and garlic greens from her stand.

“I hope you get elected,” she beamed as Chen proudly turned to present the gifted vegetables to the chanting crowd behind her.

“I give to all candidates regardless of their party affiliation,” Ke added. “I hope that they will all be elected so that they can serve us and work for our good.”

Having shaken off decades of martial law, Taiwan has emerged as one of Asia’s most vibrant and progressive democracies – a stark contrast to Communist Party-led China, which has claimed the island and vowed to one day take it by force if necessary .

It can feel like Taiwan is in near-constant campaign mode.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are held every four years and are often dominated by relations with Beijing.

In between, municipal elections are held for a variety of positions, from mayoral posts in major cities to indigenous administrators and village leaders.

Taiwan also has referendum laws that allow voters to decide a variety of constitutional issues on a regular basis.

For example, Saturday’s local elections will see a referendum on whether to lower the voting age from 20 to 18.

Local polls tend to focus far less on geopolitics and focus more on bread-and-butter issues such as poor roads, stagnant wages and recent soaring inflation.

“Something very special about Taiwanese municipal elections is how sympathetic things get,” political scientist Lev Nachman, who studies Taiwanese electoral politics, told AFP.

Personal greetings and a handshake or slight bow can go a long way in gaining support for a candidate.

“Older voters like to see their politicians at markets and on the streets early in the morning,” Nachman said.

Under President Xi Jinping, China has become much more belligerent towards Taiwan, and Beijing has cut off official communications with the island since President Tsai Ing-wen’s first election in 2016.

Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party, which won the last two elections, sees Taiwan as a de facto sovereign state.

The opposition is dominated by the Kuomintang party, which favors warmer relations with China.

Relations with Beijing collapsed in August when it held huge military drills around Taiwan to protest a visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

But despite the very real threat of conflict, the drama has received minimal attention in the run-up to this Saturday’s election.

“Even though we just went through these very tense military drills in August, it’s not really being talked about by local candidates,” Nachman said.

“Instead, it’s much more about attacking opponents based on their character quality,” he added.

Nonetheless, Lin Pei-ying, 36, a DPP candidate running for councilor in northeastern Yilan County, says she believes her party’s commitment to upholding Taiwan’s democratic way of life will still inform voters’ decisions.

“We are sending a message to China,” she told AFP news agency. “Taiwan is Taiwan, China is China.”