TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan opposition lawmakers survived a major recall election on Saturday, thwarting a bid to oust one-fifth of the island's parliamentarians - a move supporters had hoped would send a message to China but that opponents said was an assault on democracy.

Taiwan's citizens started voting on Saturday morning in an unprecedented mass recall targeting 24 opposition lawmakers from a China-friendly party, with results expected later in the day. Voters across nine cities and counties went to the polls to decide whether to remove the 24 lawmakers from the China-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party,

The votes could reshape the island democracy's parliament and the government's approach to its powerful neighbor.