Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials yesterday acknowledged that concern was growing among KMT supporters about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) chances of re-election.
Presidential national policy adviser Chen Ting-yun (陳釘雲) said he has heard of such worries among KMT supporters, adding that the controversy over Ma’s recent proposals of a cross-strait peace accord and small raises in monthly subsidies for elderly farmers is seen as harmful to Ma’s electoral outlook.
He was referring to Ma’s controversial proposal last month that his government would “cautiously consider” whether the nation should sign a peace agreement with China within the next decade, and the Cabinet’s proposed small increase in the monthly subsidies for elderly farmers from NT$6,000 to NT$6,316.
Despite Chen’s estimates last month that Ma would be able to lead Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) by 300,000 to 500,000 votes in the election, Chen yesterday said that if nothing was done to contain the damage over the subsidy and cross-strait peace agreement issues, “it is going to go bad for Ma.”
Other KMT officials said that Ma’s proposed cross-strait peace accord has caused a backlash on Ma’s campaign efforts, adding that some pan-blue supporters who are pro-localization have said that they could not accept Ma’s proposal.
The rashness of his proposal has some KMT supporters worried that Taiwan would hold political negotiations with China too soon, several party officials said, adding that the rashness of the proposal was also directly to blame for Ma backtracking on his statements.
Chen said that in the past, the farmland irrigation associations usually backed the KMT, but seeing as there was a support group for Tsai founded by the Chia-Nan Water Resources Association last month, the DPP have started to compete with the KMT for the support of the sector.
The elderly farmers’ subsidy issue further shook the confidence of the sector in the KMT, Chen said, adding that these are all changing factors that must be closely watched.
KMT honorary chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄) has also recently made public warnings that Ma’s re-election campaign is “getting tight,” with the DPP closing the gap between Tsai and Ma.
Tsai’s campaign tour along Provincial Highway No. 1 last month and the “three little pigs” campaign have all contributed to soaring support and passion for the DPP, KMT officials said.
Translated by Jake Chung
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS