President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) holds a 7.3 point lead over Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), a poll by the Taiwanese Association for Pacific Ocean Development (TAPOD) showed yesterday.
The poll showed that 38 percent of respondents said they would vote for Ma, 30.7 percent would vote for Tsai and 9.7 percent would support People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), while 14.3 percent remained undecided, TAPOD chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said at the press conference held to publicize the results.
The poll shows that Ma is widening his lead over Tsai, as two previous TAPOD polls said Ma had a 3.9 percentage point lead last month, up from a 0.7 point lead in September.
Yesterday’s resulted survey showed that 47.2 percent of respondents think Ma is going to win the election, while only 26.9 percent of respondents picked Tsai to win.
You said the poll appeared to refute analysts who said the DPP had recently gained momentum following several successful campaign rallies and fund-raising events, and that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was reeling after Ma’s talk of a possible peace pact with China.
ECONOMIC GLOOM
More than 40 percent of respondents were pessimistic about the country’s economic outlook and 35 percent said their personal finances had gotten worse under the Ma administration, You said, but these figures did not translate into higher support for Tsai.
“It was even more shocking to see Tsai finish last for the question: ‘Who is the best candidate to handle cross-strait complexity,’ coming behind Ma and Soong,” You said.
You said another surprise in the poll was that about 20 percent of respondents who support Taiwan’s independence said they would vote for Ma.
“By equaling Tsai in support from independent voters and enjoying support from voters who support unification, independence and the ‘status quo,’ I would say that Ma has secured a ‘winning coalition.’ This should serve as a warning for Tsai,” You said.
Former DPP chairperson Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) also warned Tsai’s camp, saying that comprehensive policy on China remained Tsai’s Achilles’ heel and that she has failed to exploit the growing wealth gap — Ma’s most glaring weakness — by laying out bold policies.
The results can be interpreted in two different ways, Hsu told the press conference.
TWO WAYS TO SEE IT
“On the optimistic side, no other DPP presidential candidate has been this close to his or her KMT rival 70 days before election day. On the pessimistic side, Tsai’s deficit has increased in the past three months,” he said.
Hsu, who failed in a bid to win the DPP’s presidential nomination earlier this year, said the DPP would be wise to re-evaluate its longstanding views on cross-strait relations, because “contrary to what the DPP thinks, many voters do not think Ma would sell out Taiwan or lean toward unification and the ‘one China’ policy.”
Former Research, Development and Evaluation Commission minister Lin Chia-cheng (林嘉誠) said the DPP had received little recognition from its criticism of the Ma administration’s failures in foreign affairs and cross-strait affairs.
Lin added that Ma’s poor performance on domestic affairs has turned his “incumbent re-election advantage,” which typically represents a 5 point bump, into an “incumbent re-election disadvantage.”
The poll was conducted from last Monday through Wednesday and had 1,680 valid samples with a margin of error of 2.39 percent.
‘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