A public opinion poll released by a think tank yesterday showed that while most respondents believed that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is more capable of leading the country than President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), her support rate for the January presidential poll is still slightly lower than that of Ma. Experts urged the DPP to learn from this result and try to persuade people who believe Tsai is more capable to vote for her in the presidential election.
The Taiwan Thinktank, which is generally perceived as more sympathetic to the pan-green camp, conducted the poll on people’s opinions of the three presidential candidates: Ma, Tsai and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).
Respondents were asked to rate them in 10 categories. Tsai took the lead in six.
Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), a political scientist at Soochow University, told a press conference yesterday that the poll results put Tsai in first place in the categories measuring perceptions on the candidates’ trustworthiness, attaching importance to people’s opinions, bringing change to Taiwan, upholding Taiwan’s interests, caring for disadvantaged groups and being uncorrupt.
Soong held first place in the categories measuring perceptions on the candidates’ resolve and communication and negotiation skills. Ma led in only one category — international perspective.
Despite Ma not taking the lead in most of the categories, Hsu said the poll found that he enjoyed a 39.5 percent support rate, with Tsai at 38.6 percent and Soong at 12.8 percent.
Meanwhile, when the respondents were asked to rate the three candidates’ positions on the issue of Taiwan’s independence or unification with China on a scale of one to 10, with one meaning faster unification between Taiwan and China and 10 meaning faster declaration of independence, the poll result showed that Ma scored 3.88, while Tsai scored 6.88 and Soong 4.6.
Respondents were also asked to rate themselves on the same question, which showed an average score of 5.97. That score was closest to Tsai’s score, Hsu said, suggesting that Tsai is considered “in the middle, leaning toward independence.”
Former DPP legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) said at the press conference that Ma himself regards cross-strait relations and policies as his strong points, but the poll shows that Tsai’s position on the subject is closest to the public’s view on relations with China.
Lin added that it was strange that Tsai was trailing Ma in their support rate, although people believe she is more capable of leading the country than Ma.
“The DPP has to find out what affects Tsai’s support rate and make people supporting ‘Tsai the person’ change to supporting ‘Tsai the DPP presidential candidate,’” Lin said.
Former DPP lawmaker Kuo Cheng-liang (郭正亮) said there could be a number of reasons for the conflicting results.
People’s party affiliations might lead them to vote for Ma even though they think Tsai is better suited to hold presidential office, Kuo said.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
COUNTERING THE PLA: While the US should reinforce its relations with partners and allies, Taiwan must invest in strengthening its defenses as well, Phillip Davidson said If influence in the Indo-Pacific region is one of the US’ core interests, then Taiwan serves as a cornerstone of US economic and security influence in the region, former US Indo-Pacific Command commander admiral Phillip Davidson said on Thursday. “China’s ... strategy is to supplant the US leadership role in the international order ... and they’ve long said ... that they intend to do that by 2050,” Davidson told the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit in Washington. Davidson said he had previously told US Senate hearings on China’s military activities and possible threats in the Indo-Pacific region that a Chinese invasion of
RSS