Some Taiwanese expatriates across the world - including those in China - have have decided to pass up the chance to travel back to their native land to participate in the Jan. 16 presidental elections. Less than 10 percent of nearly one million Taiwanese nationals abroad are expected to go home to heed the call of civic duty.

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According to ABC, just 100,000 Taiwanese living in China are planning to fly home to vote in the election on Saturday. As the chances of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party becomes dim, most Taiwanese in China don't see the point of going home anymore.

Since the Nationalist KMT party came into power in 2008, the relations between Taiwan and China has improved steadily - culminating in a meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Ma Ying-jeou last year. Under President Ma, both countries have signed more than 20 trade deals.

A majority of the workers in the self-governed island apparently favour the pro-business Nationalist KMT party over the independence-leaning opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). However, some pollsters have allegedly chosen to support the DPP over concerns about the island nation's growing dependence on China. Authorities in mainland China and the Taiwanese government have encouraged Taiwanese nationals all over the world to go home for the elections.

However, with the DPP's Tsai Ing-wen likely to become the next president, fewer Taiwanese businessmen have decided to make the trip.

In 2008, around 40,000 Taiwanese nationals in China went home to vote for President Ma to become the country's leader. All in all, almost 70,000 Taiwanese made a trip that year.

David Chai, the chairman of the Taiwan Business Association in Dongguan, believes that only 10,000 Taiwanese from Dongguan will go home to vote this year despite high expectations of the KMT party that around 100,000 will make the trip.

As a result, airlines have decreased prices on commercial flights to encourage more voters to go home. The South East Travel Service Co. Ltd reportedly spent three weeks just to fill a 300-capacity charter flight from Shanghai for the elections.

TagsChina Taiwan Presidential Elections 2016, Taiwan Elections, dpp