TAIPEI, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen appealed to voters on Sunday to think of what had happened to Chinese-controlled Hong Kong when they cast their ballots next month, saying peace must be backed up with a commitment to boost defences.

Taiwan prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 13 as China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory, ramps up military pressure to assert its claims, including two major war games around the island in the past year and a half.

China and Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), have cast the election as a choice between war and peace. China detests Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its presidential candidate, Vice President Lai Ching-te, calling them dangerous separatists.