Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) contender Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is entering the presidential election campaign with a narrow advantage over President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), new media polls showed.
Tsai, who is to be nominated on May 4 after winning the DPP primary, leads Ma of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in two out of three major polls conducted on Wednesday evening, although the figures were within the margin of error — 1 percent or less.
In a United Daily News poll, Tsai led Ma by 37 percent to 36 percent, reflecting what the paper called a surge of public trust in Tsai’s administrative abilities.
Photo: Reuters
However, Tsai lost points on people’s perception of how she would handle cross-strait relations.
She also lost points when people considered whether she could boost the nation’s economic competitiveness. The paper wrote that 28 percent supported her economic measures, against Ma’s 33 percent support.
A separate China Times poll gave Tsai a smaller lead in public support against Ma, 33.4 percent to 33 percent, although more people believed that the president would win his re-election bid.
While 38 percent believed that Ma would be re-elected, only 30 percent thought that Tsai would win the presidential election next year, the paper said.
Based on geographical area, more people in northern Taiwan support Ma — although his lead appears to have leveled off — but in the south, a DPP stronghold, overwhelming numbers support Tsai over Ma, the paper said.
In New Taipei City (新北市), where Tsai lost to Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the KMT in the mayoral election by more than 110,000 votes in November, the poll suggested that support for her and Ma was tied at 35 percent each.
Two in every five voters support Ma in Taipei against one-third for Tsai, but in Greater Kaohsiung, Tsai has 41 percent support against a dismal 26 percent for Ma, the poll showed.
A survey that gave Ma a slight lead over the DPP candidate, conducted by cable news station TVBS, showed that 41 percent supported the president — 1 percentage point more than Tsai’s 40 percent. The results were released late on Wednesday night.
Tsai commanded a convincing lead among younger voters, the segment least likely to vote, but lost ground with middle-aged and older voters.
She is supported by 51 percent of voters between 20 and 29, against 42 percent for Ma, but Ma led her by 8 percentage points, 48 percent to 40 percent, in the 40-to-49 age segment and by 12 percentage points, 47 percent to 35 percent, in the 50-to-59 age segment.
The Apple Daily, in a poll of 1,055 randomly selected respondents, meanwhile, showed Tsai garnered a 56.21 percent approval rate, while Ma received 29.38 percent.
The numbers are bound to give some confidence to Tsai, who was handed the DPP ticket on Wednesday after beating her main competitor, former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), in the party primary by just 1.35 percentage points.
However, DPP lawmakers were remaining cautious, saying that it is still too early to tell what the -numbers represent with the presidential campaign not yet underway.
“It’s a big encouragement for Tsai, but the DPP should not feel too good about itself yet, based on just these polls. The polls can only be used as a reference,” DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said.
KMT lawmakers remained more reserved.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) acknowledged there was a chance that Ma “could lose” and said the KMT needed to be more “concerned.”
“I think the KMT needs to be very careful and concerned,” Wu said. “Personally, I would describe it as an extreme crisis.”
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS