Speaking the tricky language of elections in Taiwan

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Most politicians don't need to learn a new language to get elected, but in Taiwan it's not just what you say, it's what you say it in that can be key to getting into power.

Campaigning by candidates for January's presidential poll has thrown the spotlight on the need to know not just the official Mandarin language but also Taiwanese, which is spoken by almost 80 percent of the population. The two are mutually unintelligible.