Delighted to see that the DPP's candidate for the Hualien County commissioner by-election You Ying-lung (
"Last weekend's passionate campaign for You has significantly boosted the DPP's morale in Hualien and has strengthened support for You. It's an election battle worth fighting for. The president has encouraged everyone to make a final effort for You," DPP's Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
The DPP yesterday discussed its polling analysis on the three candidates in the by-election. The polls indicate that both You and KMT candidate Hsieh Shen-shan (
Chen Chun-lin (
"The three candidates still make for a close match, because each of them has about 30 percent of voter support. Ten percent of the public have expressed indecision," Chen said.
"The DPP has consolidated 30 percent of its traditional base of support in Hualien, and during the past few days we also have seen a significant one to two percent growth in support for You, especially from the younger voters," Chen said, citing a series of results from the poll.
The party declined to release figures of the poll because the election law does not allow the results of surveys to be released in the 10 days prior to an election.
Commenting on the factors that would affect the candidates, Chen said that a serious clash amid the overlapping pan-blue bases of support for Hsieh and Wu would undermine their "campaign pillars" -- the vote-captains. Chen doubted Soong would be able to sway PFP vote-captains' support from Wu to Hsieh.
"From early July till now, we have seen 20 percent of the PFP supporters show up in support of Wu," Chen said.
"Though Soong has openly stumped for Hsieh, it is still an unpredictable race. Soong has not made a final drastic call to demand that his PFP followers support Hsieh and only Hsieh," Chen said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it