Some China tourists eager to see free-wheeling democracy in action in Taiwan

Tourists from China take pictures at the statue of Sun Yat-sen with smartphones at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, January 12, 2016. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The number of mainland Chinese tourists to neighbouring Taiwan halved in the weeks before this weekend's elections, several Taipei-based travel agencies said, as Communist Party rulers in Beijing discouraged visits to China's diplomatic rival.

Taiwan elections are always sensitive in China, which regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province, worried that the democratic free-for-all across the Taiwan Strait could cause people to wonder why their own government won't allow free polls.