Taiwan's democracy gets a fresh push on International Day of Democracy, with a Kaohsiung mayoral hopeful framing free elections as an inheritance for the next generation.

• Lai Jui-lung, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Kaohsiung mayor, says protecting democracy means handing the right to choose to the next generation intact.
• He points back 40 years to activists who pushed for the freedom to form parties, speak out, and vote under authoritarian rule.
• Taiwan moved from asking whether people could vote at all to everyone deciding the country's future at the ballot box.
• He puts Taiwan on the front line of a renewed global tug-of-war between democracy and authoritarianism, where freedom cannot be taken for granted.

Outlook: Expect democracy and Taiwan's place on that front line to stay a central campaign theme heading into the Kaohsiung mayoral race.