A majority of Taiwanese believe the nation’s presidential candidates should make an unequivocal statement that Taiwan is not part of China, according to a Taiwan Thinktank survey released yesterday.
The telephone-based poll — carried out on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26 among people aged 20 or older — found that 64 percent of respondents think presidential candidates should clearly state that Taiwan is not part of China.
On the cross-strait relationship, 46.6 percent of those polled said that a meeting of the leaders of Taiwan and China conducted under the framework of the so-called “1992 consensus” was unacceptable, whereas 36 percent said it was acceptable.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed understanding reached during cross-strait talks in 1992 that both Taiwan and China acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what that means.
The poll showed that 41.8 percent of respondents said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would best safeguard Taiwan’s interests in cross-strait negotiations, while 23.8 percent backed Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) and 16.7 percent favored People First Party (PFP) challenger James Soong (宋楚瑜).
Despite Chu’s repeated warnings over the potential impact on the nation’s democratic path if the KMT loses its legislative majority, 50.3 percent of respondents said they wanted the DPP to win more than half of the 113 legislative seats to prevent the government from continuing to lean toward China.
The idea that a DPP-dominated legislature should counter the nation’s drift toward China is most prevalent among younger Taiwanese, the poll suggests, with 60.1 percent aged between 20 and 29 supporting such an approach.
With regard to the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, 48.2 percent of those polled said they would vote for Tsai if the ballot were held tomorrow, while 19.4 percent said they would support Chu and 11.6 percent would opt for Soong.
Asked which of the three vice presidential candidates are best placed to assist the campaigns of their running mates, 58.1 percent of respondents said Tsai’s running mate, former Academia Sinica vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁).
Ten percent opted for Chu’s running mate, former Council of Labor Affairs minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄), and 6.7 percent picked Soong’s running mate, Republic Party Chairperson Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), the survey said.
A simple majority, 32.7 percent, said they would support district legislative candidates nominated by the DPP, while 20.4 percent said they would vote for the KMT’s candidates.
Among smaller parties, the New Power Party’s (NPP) legislative candidates received the highest support at 7.3 percent, followed by those of the PFP at 3.4 percent and the Taiwan Solidarity Union at 2.1 percent.
In terms of party votes, about 35 percent said they would vote for the DPP, while the KMT garnered 22.2 percent and the NPP 7.3 percent.
The PFP received only 5.8 percent of support — barely above the 5 percent threshold required for a party to be awarded at-large seats.
The poll collected 1,068 valid samples, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
NEGOTIATIONS: Taiwan has good relations with Washington and the outlook for the negotiations looks promising, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Taiwan’s GDP growth this year is expected to decrease by 0.43 to 1.61 percentage points due to the effects of US tariffs, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday, citing a preliminary estimate by a private research institution. Taiwan’s economy would be significantly affected by the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs slapped by the US, which took effect yesterday, Liu said, adding that GDP growth could fall below 3 percent and potentially even dip below 2 percent to 1.53 percent this year. The council has commissioned another institution
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS