While central Taiwan voted in support of the pan-blue camp four years ago, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) managed to capture Taichung County and Changhua County this year by a narrow margin.
Meanwhile, the eastern region of the country, along with the offshore counties, voted pan-blue again this year, as expected.
Li Chin-shiang (利錦祥), head of the DPP's Taichung County headquarters, said before the voting that at least two factors had contributed to an increase in pan-green support in the county.
"In Taichung County, a native Taiwanese consciousness has been a big factor in winning constituent support. Most of the residents here have been receptive to the DPP's stance on the Chinese missile threat," Li said.
"At present, about half of the Taichung population works in the agricultural industry, which is uncertain about the impact of opening direct links with China," Li said.
Li also said that the DPP enjoyed the benefits of incumbency in Changhua County, where the DPP's Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) serves as county commissioner.
While 62 percent of Taichung County voted in 2000 for one or the other member of this year's pan-blue presidential ticket, with 38 percent going to People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and 24 percent to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) walked away with 52 percent of the county's votes yesterday. Chen got only 37 percent of the vote in Taichung County in 2000.
In the last election, 34 percent and 26 percent of the votes in Changhua County went to Soong and Lien respectively, with Chen getting 40 percent of the votes. This year, 48 percent of its votes went to the pan-blue camp, with 52.26 percent voting for Chen.
"A minor injury to President Chen Shui-bian has led to a major injury to the KMT," Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (
Before the voting, Wang Yeh-lih (王業立), chairman of Tunghai University's department of political science, discussed the situation in Taichung.
"The battle in Taichung is a close one. It's just going to depend on the ability of each camp to mobilize voters, and the KMT has traditionally had more success with that in central Taiwan. Still, the pan-green camp started campaigning in the central area very early this time," Wang said.
Chen's promise to build a science park in central Taiwan, which is seen as providing possible economic benefits to the region, was credited with drawing in new DPP voters.
In Taichung City and in Nantou, Chen was able to close the gap that had existed between the pan-blue and pan-green camps. In Taichung City, where 63 percent of voters went pan-blue and 37 percent voted pan-green in 2000, 52.66 percent voted for Lien and 47 percent for Chen this year.
Similarly, in Nantou County, 65 percent of the vote went to the pan-blue camp in 2000 and 34 percent to the pan-green camp. This year, 51 percent voted pan-blue and 49 percent voted pan-green.
DPP legislative caucus leader Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said before the voting that reconstruction efforts after the 921 earthquake in 1999 were the primary factor that Nantou residents would vote on.
In the eastern region, covering Hualien and Taitung, the pan-blue camp won the majority of votes yesterday, as was the case four years ago.
Huang Hsien-tung (黃憲東), spokesman for the DPP's Hualien County campaign headquarters, said before the voting that highway construction might have a large effect on this year's voting.
"Hualien has traditionally voted for the KMT. The debate over whether to continue construction on the Suao-Hualien Expressway has affected the vote," Huang said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS