The latest poll by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) indicated the support rate for President Chen Shui-bian's (
DPP campaign spokesperson Wu Nai-jen (
Wu said the spectacle of the rally protesting China's military threat touched the hearts of many people and gave a boost to Chen's support rate.
The DPP poll shows Chen's support rate at 40 percent, the highest it's been since the peak of public support in November last year when the president returned from successful overseas visits to the US and Panama.
Meanwhile, Wu said yesterday that some of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) vote captains in central and southern Taiwan have expressed a desire to defect to the DPP after the success of the human-chain rally.
"These local vote captains working under certain KMT law-makers contacted us, saying they wanted to side with the DPP. They expressed the hope that the DPP could dispatch some heavyweights to invite them over to the DPP, so as to save face. This could help ensure a DPP victory in central Taiwan," Wu said.
According to a poll conducted by the pro-unification United Daily News, Chen remained three percentage points behind his opponent, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The United Daily News poll showed that support for both candidates fell by two percentage points, with only the number of undecided voters up sharply. Thirty-eight percent of the 1,070 people questioned said they would vote for Lien against 35 percent for Chen, according to the poll results.
The rates compared with 40 percent for Lien and 37 percent for Chen in a survey by the paper on Thursday.
The number of undecided voters was up seven points to 27 percent. Lien's support dipped below 40 percent for the first time this year after standing at 44 percent in January, the paper said.
Betting on the election result in the nation's widespread illegal gambling industry was now moving toward a 400,000-vote victory for Lien, down from 600,000 before the protest, according to the China Times newspaper.
Hu Fo (
According to the latest survey by cable news network ERA, Lien could win 36.5 percent of votes against Chen's 35.0 percent, compared with 38.0 percent and 33.8 percent before the rally.
But a crucial 22 percent of the about 1,500 people it polled were undecided and the margin of error was 2.5 percentage points.
Although the rally has greatly boosted the morale of the DPP, as well as Chen's prospects of being re-elected, Wu expressed concern about the expected turnout for the referendum.
"We are not as worried about the presidential election now as we are about the referendum. Chen will need at least 6 million votes to win the election, but 8 million votes -- half the number of eligible voters -- are required to validate the referendum," Wu said.
Wu said in the remaining days before the election the party will focus on campaigning for the referendum to build on the momentum that had been generated by the human-chain rally.
The DPP yesterday pledged to focus on using positive propaganda in the 18 days remaining until the election.
In a campaign speech on Sunday night, Chen predicted that he expected the KMT-People First Party alliance to launch a second wave of mudslinging against him.
His words came true yesterday as the Chinese-language United Daily ran two full pages of reports on fugitive former Tuntex Group chairman Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪), who made further accusations that the president had lied about the number of times he had received political donations from him.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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