Survey gives high marks to Taipei mayor

Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) beat out former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) in a survey of the most influential domestic newsmakers of the year.

The survey of 1,200 college students, conducted by a professor at National Taipei University known for his pro-unification views and his students as a class assignment, also had respondents rank the most influential newsmakers in cross-strait affairs.

At the top of that category was Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民), followed by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Taipei University professor and Chairman of the National Academy of Management Kenneth Fan (范光陵) and his students conducted the survey from Nov. 23 to Dec. 6, collecting 1,200 questionnaires from 100 universities nationwide.

Fan, who has conducted similar polls with his students over the years, said that it was the first time a Chinese politician occupied the cross-strait category's No. 1 slot.

"It means college students are owning up to the growing power of China and are aware of Jiang's influence on cross-strait relations," Fan said.

The domestic newsmaker category rankings indicate that "college students are declining to support the `pan-green' camp as usual, and are instead choosing the `pan-blue' politicians as their favorites," Fan said.

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) occupies the fifth place on the list of domestic newsmakers, right after Chen.

Fan said the fact that many politicians dominated the lists suggests college students are "concerned about -- and follow the trends in -- Taiwanese society, in which political activities are dominant."

Taiwan's "god of management," Formosa Group Chairman Wang Yung-ching (王永慶) and TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) were among the non-politicians that made the list. They were ranked eighth and 10th, respectively.

Fan is well-known as a staunch ally of Chiang Wei-kuo (蔣緯國), half brother of the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).

In 1996, when Chiang Wei-kuo was in critical condition at General Veterans Hospital, Fan released an audio tape in which he asserted that Chiang Ching-kuo had not been fathered by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).

The tape, which Fan said was authorized by Chiang Wei-kuo, and recorded in front of Chiang in his hospital room, created a stir in political circles.

Fan's credibility was thrown into question, however, when he was not able to answer questions surrounding the tape, such as why it was not narrated by Chiang Wei-kuo himself.