The presidential candidate of Taiwan's largest opposition party says he will enhance dialogue with Beijing but not touch on the issue of unification with China during his term if elected. Taiwan voters head to the polls on Saturday.

Hou Yu-ih of the largest opposition Kuomintang party is running against Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and Ko Wen-je of the second-largest opposition Taiwan People's Party.

Hou spoke to foreign media on Thursday. He criticized Beijing for making military provocations to Taiwan and said he does not have unrealistic expectations of China.

Hou stressed that it is important to bolster Taiwan's self-defense capabilities to serve as deterrence so that Beijing does not start a war lightly.

He also vowed to reduce the risk of clashes with China by gradually starting exchanges between private sectors and scholars, as well as dialogue between contact organizations. He said high-level official interactions would come after that. But he said he would not touch on the unification issue as president.

On possibly holding talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Hou expressed caution. He said relations between China and Taiwan, as well as between the United States and China, have changed since the administration of former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, who held a historic meeting with Xi during his presidency.

Vice presidential candidate Jaw Shau-kong attended the news conference with Hou. Jaw objected to being seen as pro-Beijing. He revealed that his grandfather died after being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.

He also said he was personally acquainted with Jimmy Lai, the founder of Hong Kong's now-defunct pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper.