Although President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) leads Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on perceived ability to promote economic development, protect Taiwan against China and lead the country, Tsai is ahead in the “feeling thermometer,” a survey by the Taiwanese Association for Pacific Ocean Development (TAPOD) shows.
To more precisely monitor the January presidential election, the TAPOD started a project to release poll results on the support rates of presidential candidates once a month until the election.
Results of the first poll, conducted from Aug. 29 through Wednesday with a little more than 1,600 valid samples, were released at a press conference yesterday.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The poll showed that 41.1 percent of respondents would vote for Ma, while 39.4 percent would vote for Tsai. However, if People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) joined the race, Ma’s support rate would drop to 33.1 percent, while Tsai’s would drop to 32.4 percent, with Soong receiving 12.7 percent.
While the difference in overall support for Ma and Tsai was marginal and not surprising, TAPOD chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said it highlighted a few interesting aspects.
For instance, when asked “when facing threats from China, who do you think would best defend Taiwan’s interests,” 32.9 percent of respondents said Ma, while 30.6 percent said Tsai and 12.5 percent said Soong.
“This actually surprises me,” You said. “Because usually we would expect that people would think Tsai would best defend Taiwan’s interests, but Ma is actually leading Tsai by about 2 percent.”
Yang Tai-shun (楊泰順), a political science professor at Chinese Culture University, said this could stem from belief in Ma’s “three noes” policy of “no independence, no unification and no use of force.”
Another notable finding, You said, was the fact that 41.6 percent of respondents said they supported independence for Taiwan, while 26.1 supported maintaining the “status quo” and only 15.5 percent -supported unification with China.
“Not only do more people support independence for Taiwan … that support for independence has gone up 3 percent from three years ago when Ma first took office,” You said.
Political observers were divided on what had led to the increase in support for Taiwanese independence.
Yang said this could be the result of repeated statements by Ma to the effect that the Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign and independent country, “and thus those who support Taiwanese independence may not be traditional independence advocates who seek the founding of a ‘Republic of Taiwan,’ but rather the idea that the ROC is a sovereign and independent country.”
Taiwan Association for China Human Rights chairman Yang Hsien-hung (楊憲宏) disagreed.
“Maybe next time, it could be asked in the survey what percentage of those who support Taiwanese independence are businesspeople investing in China or have friends or relatives investing in China,” Yang said, adding that because of enhanced exchanges between the two countries, more people have noticed the difference between Taiwan and China and realized that the two are different countries.
“Even some of my guests from China admitted to me in private that Taiwan is better off not being part of the People’s Republic of China,” he said.
On the other hand, Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒), a professor at National Dong Hwa University’s Department of Indigenous -Development and Social Work, who is also a political analyst, said that nearly a quarter of respondents who supported Taiwanese independence would vote for Ma, while a little more than 10 percent of people who support -unification with China would for Tsai.
“This may be the result from both camps playing down the unification and independence issue,” Shih said. “But Tsai may need to think twice whether such a campaign strategy is best for her.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS