A survey released by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday showed an increase in the number of people questioning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) integrity in the Yu Chang case.
The survey, conducted between Dec. 15 and Saturday, asked one question pertaining to the case, in which Tsai is accused by the KMT of having had improper involvement in the formation of Yu Chang Biologics, now known as TaiMed Biologics, when she served as vice premier in 2006 and 2007.
Three options were: “The case was a smear tactic manipulated by the KMT against Tsai,” “Tsai violated conflict-of--interest rules in this case” or “Don’t know or refuse to answer.”
Throughout the poll, the percentage of respondents selecting the second option increased from 26.42 percent to 29.51 percent.
The percentage of respondents who selected the first option decreased from 25 percent to 19 percent, the survey showed.
Since the KMT alleged three weeks ago that Tsai profited illegally from her involvement in Yu Chang, the case has received much media attention. However, the survey showed about 49.8 percent had no opinion on the issue.
The survey involved 1,428 respondents nationwide, with a margin of error of 2.64.
The KMT also conducted polls to gauge public perceptions of the case in New Taipei City (新北市), Greater Taichung, Taoyuan County and Greater Kaohsiung, between Dec. 19 and Monday.
In the four areas, where 7,110 were polled, 53.55 percent said doubts still surrounded the case and Tsai should provide explanations, while 19.8 percent did not think that was necessary.
“The results show there is a high consensus among voters that Tsai must explain the case,” KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) told a press conference.
Separately, the DPP said it conducted a survey in which 44.5 percent of respondents considered the case a smear tactic, 24.7 percent were suspicious that Tsai illegally profited from the case and 30.8 percent had no view.
After examining public perceptions of the case by party affiliation, the survey found that 22.5 percent of the respondents, who identified themselves as pan-blue supporters said that the nature of the Yu Chang case was a smear tactic, while only 15.4 percent of the respondents without a specific party affiliation questioned Tsai’s integrity.
This shows that the Yu Chang case did not deal as huge a blow to Tsai as the KMT had expected, the DPP said.
Additional reporting by Chen Hui-ping
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