Fresh from announcing his presidential run, polls show former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in a hotly contested race with former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Three new polls released yesterday show a near statistical dead heat between the two contenders for the DPP nomination.
The telephone surveys will be an important indicator as Tsai, who has temporarily stepped down as DPP chairperson, and Su start the party primaries, which will be based entirely on public opinion polls after a party member vote was scrapped.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The two officially registered their candidacies with the DPP yesterday. Both paid a NT$5 million (US$169,000) fee — two-thirds of which will be returned to the candidate terminating their campaign.
According to cable news station TVBS’ survey, if the election were held now, Tsai would receive 34 percent of the vote against 41 percent for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Su would take 36 percent against Ma’s 37 percent.
A poll by the Chinese-language China Times showed that Tsai would lose by 6 percent with 30 percent of the vote, with Ma taking 36 percent. Su would get 32 percent to Ma’s 38 percent.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily suggested that both Tsai and Su have higher ratings than Ma. Tsai would receive 49.4 percent against Ma’s 34.3 percent, while Su would get 51.6 percent to Ma’s 29.8 percent.
All three surveys are modeled on the DPP telephone polls, pitting each candidate against the president and nominating the contender with the best prospects.
The China Times poll went a step further, comparing Tsai directly with Su. The newspaper said 32 percent felt Su was better suited to run for president, while 27 percent backed Tsai.
The TVBS poll has a margin of error of 3.3 percent; the China Times poll’s margin of error is 3.2 percent. The Apple Daily poll did not give a margin of error.
Although official registration does not end until tomorrow, both candidates have been active before the party holds informal polls in the next few weeks that will be key to negotiations between Tsai and Su.
At her registration yesterday, Tsai brought about 40 university students holding signs saying: “My first vote for Tsai Ing-wen.”
Tsai hyped her ties with the younger generation, saying that she believed this group would be a critical voting segment next year.
She said the polls would be “used as a reference.”
Su, who arrived an hour before Tsai, said he wanted to “consolidate Taiwan’s different forces and turn Taiwan into a country that provides its people happiness.”
Su was ringed by 12 of the most ardent supporters of his earlier bid for Taipei City mayor, including rapper Dog G (大支) and Internet artist Milkman (牛奶人).
Su said he would take the polls into account and that “all of them are worthy of study.”
The focus is expected to stay on the pair in the next month as party insiders watch closely for any signs that a deal can be brokered between the two.
DPP caucus chief Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), the acting DPP chairperson, said he had yet to talk privately with the two candidates about scheduling closed-door discussions, but it is understood that at least two sessions will be held.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who defeated Su in the 2008 presidential primaries, said it was important that the candidates be able to “look at the big picture at such a critical time.”
According to the schedule passed by the DPP Central Executive Committee, a presidential candidate will be chosen by May 4, if not sooner, pending the discussions between Tsai and Su.
If the discussions fail, telephone polls will be held between April 25 and April 29.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS