Opinion polls by two local media outlets released yesterday showed Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in the lead ahead of the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24.
A poll commissioned by the Chinese-language Apple Daily and conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion at Shih Hsin University showed Ko leading with 34.9 percent of the vote, 4.1 percentage points higher than Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) at 30.8 percent.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Pasuya Yao (姚文智) had 10.4 percent of the vote, while 21.9 percent of respondents said they were undecided or declined to answer.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Of those polled, 61.6 percent who identified as pan-blue camp supporters said they back Ting, with 23.1 percent supporting Ko.
The poll showed that 45.3 percent of pan-green camp supporters favored Ko and 44.9 supported Yao, while 43.3 percent of neutral respondents supported Ko, 18.2 percent support Ting and 4.4 percent support Yao.
The telephone poll was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, and collected 1,068 valid responses.
Another poll conducted by online news outlet ETtoday showed Ko had the highest support rating of 41.7 percent, followed by Ting at 29.9 percent and Yao at 8.4 percent.
Independent candidate Li Hsi-kun (李錫錕) had 1.1 percent, while 5.6 percent said they support no one and 13.3 percent were undecided or refused to answer.
ETtoday’s poll was conducted between Sept. 3 and Sept. 9 via an online survey of eligible voters under 50 years old and computer-assisted telephone interviews of those older than 50. It collected 2,408 valid responses.
After the Apple Daily poll showed that voters are most confident in Ting’s ability to solve the issues surrounding the Taipei Dome construction project, Ko yesterday said that the project shows that many minor problems can add up to become a “big mess,” but added that everything must be safe and legal, and the project would be discussed at an urban design review meeting on Thursday.
He also said it is unlikely that the DPP would persuade Yao to withdraw from the mayoral election after a rumor circulated that the party could do so if his support rating remains below 15 percent.
Yao told a news conference yesterday that although the first and second phase of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit circular line have been completed, a north-south public transport corridor to connect the city’s Dazhi area (大直) and Nangang (南港) and Xinyi (信義) districts is still needed to solve the city’s traffic problems.
Additional reporting by Chou Yen-yu
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
RSS