With less than 100 days to go until the Jan. 14 presidential and legislative elections, the recent announcement by the Global Views Survey Research Center that it would no longer be conducting surveys on political issues has caused much debate.
The center announced on Tuesday that it would no longer conduct polls on elections or political issues because of a shift in corporate policy and the center’s director, Tai Li-an (戴立安), also resigned.
The center was founded in 2006 and thereafter it began a series of surveys, ranging from economic to political. The center’s surveys also included public opinion on the implementation of the government’s policies, as well as opinion on the nation’s various political parties.
In an interview on Wednesday with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Tai said he was told on Tuesday that the center would be shifting roles and would no longer be conducting surveys on elections or political issues.
Tai said the announcement was rather abrupt and that it was the reason he had resigned.
Tai said he created the center in 2006 and that it was even acknowledged as a credible and neutral source in US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. He said the sudden announcement had caused him to feel nothing but regret.
In response to rumors that the announcement came after political pressure, Tai said he could not make a comment because of the uncertainty of the information, but he “believes that the upper echelons of the company have a more complete plan.”
Tai said he would officially leave his post at the end of this month after he finishes handing over his responsibilities to his successors, adding that he had made no plans with regard to what his next job would be.
According to data Tai has collected on the elections since Typhoon Morakot caused widespread flooding in 2009, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has a 4 to 6 percent lead over President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Analyzing the data with current conditions in mind, Tai said that there was still a 4 to 6 percent gap between the candidates.
In other words, both parties were trying to close a gap between 48 percent and 52 percent of votes, Tai said, adding that Tsai held the upper hand at the moment.
Because of the slim gap, Tai said he was worried that the cost of trying to change the outcome of the elections had decreased, adding that future elections would further challenge voters and the maturity of the campaigning parties.
Long years of tracking shows that the KMT’s support base is lower than 50 percent and with both parties almost neck-and-neck in the support ratings, it is shaping up to be a tough election for the party in power, Tai said.
Tai said surveys of neutral voters showed that they showed a higher degree of autonomy and their support for Tsai was on the high side, a situation that mirrored neutral voters’ support for Ma in the 2008 presidential election.
Because of the low satisfaction with Ma’s policy implementation that has been highlighted in the center’s surveys, some suspect that the “shifting role” of the center is the result of political pressure.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
‘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
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
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