Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) enjoys much more popular support than Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hopeful Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), according to a poll conducted by the Cross-Strait Policy Association.
Tsai led Hung by 50.2 percent to 29.3 percent, the poll found.
TVBS had released a different poll on Wednesday showing Hung leading.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The DPP chairperson outperformed the deputy legislative speaker in all six indicators gauging the two candidates’ “image” in the eyes of respondents, association secretary-general Anson Hung (洪耀南) said.
Anson Hung is also a former chief executive officer of Xfuture.org, also known as the Future Events Exchange (未來事件交易所), which bases its predictions on “prediction markets.”
On leadership, Tsai won a support rating of 45.5 percent against Hung Hsiu-chu’s 31.5 percent; on ability to safeguard Taiwan’s interests, 44.7 percent to 31.6 percent; trustworthiness, 47.3 percent to 32.6 percent; policy feasibility, 39.3 percent to 34.3 percent; understanding of public opinion, 48.6 percent to 28.9 percent; and global perspective, 58.9 percent to 18.6 percent.
In an additional category — cross-strait policy acceptability — the survey used the candidates’ descriptions of their respective cross-strait policy to gauge public opinion.
Again, Tsai found greater support for her stance.
The poll described Tsai’s cross-strait policy as “maintaining the ‘status quo,’ which is to establish consistent, predictable and sustainable cross-strait relations under the Republic of China’s constitutional system.”
Hung Hsiu-chu’s cross-strait policy was described as: “one China, common interpretations (一中同表)” and defining the cross-strait relationship as “two constitutional governments in a whole China.”
Tsai gained an approval rating of 63.1 percent, while 22.4 percent said they disapproved.
Just 31.2 percent of respondents supported the deputy legislative speaker’s cross-strait view, with 51.7 percent disagreeing.
“Tsai, in both global perspective and cross-strait policy, holds a lead of 30 to 40 percentage points, which is quite rare, as the KMT usually has the whip hand on these two issues,” association president Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said.
Hung has been inching toward the “deep blue” voters, which can be seen with her cross-strait policy, but her strategy has harmed her popularity among swing voters, Tung said.
“On cross-strait relations, Tsai won more support than disapproval, regardless of party affiliation,” he added. “About 88.2 percent of pan-green voters, 48.6 percent of pan-blue voters and 47.7 percent of neutral voters agreed with Tsai on her cross-strait view, while only 13.3 percent of pan-greens, 61 percent of pan-blues and 19.6 percent of neutral voters agreed with Hung’s.”
Tung said that Hung Hsiu-chu might be considered “outspoken” for her stance, but “Taiwanese doubt her [ability] to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty, dignity and interests.”
Generally speaking, the challenger is usually the one who criticizes the ruling party’s policy, and the ruling party candidate supports existing policy. However, Hung Hsiu-chu is the one who is challenging the existing system,” Tung said. “She has said she would propose signing a peace treaty [with China], but we have seen President Ma [Ying-jeou, 馬英九] make the same proposal in 2011, but backtracked after meeting strong opposition.”
“Regarding her ‘one China, common interpretation,’ we all know that there lacks a consensus between [Taiwan and China] over ‘one China,’ which is why the Ma administration has resorted to its ‘1992 consensus’ and ‘respective interpretations’ to obfuscate the issue. However, Hung [Hsiu-chu] is going against the trend by calling for a ‘common interpretation,’ which China would be more than willing to accept. Apparently the definition of the ‘common interpretation’ would not be up to Hung [Hsiu-chu], who would be pressured to adopt China’s ‘one China’ principle,” Tung said.
Association vice president Justin Chen (陳建仲) said that Ma’s low popularity and KMT infighting would be major stumbling blocks.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS