Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"Local people are fed up with distasteful campaign gimmicks," Ma said, adding he hoped the presidential candidates from both the pan-green camp and the pan-blue alliance could exercise self-restraint on the campaign trail.
Ma, who is concurrently serving as secretary-general of the campaign headquarters of the pan-blue presidential ticket of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), made the call after the rival camps traded accusations and libel suits in recent days.
Claiming that few who resort to negative campaigning had succeeded in elections either at home or abroad, Ma said he didn't think mud-slinging would prove effective in the March 20 poll.
Ma, who is also KMT vice chairman, said he had urged the pan-blue alliance to cease negative campaigning during a recent meeting at the alliance's campaign headquarters.
He also called on the pan-green camp, headed by the Democratic Progressive Party, to halt what he described as a smear campaign against Lien.
"Both candidates should focus on policy debate. Each side should present policy initiatives and outline its vision for Taiwan's future development instead of slandering each other," Ma said, adding that those obsessed with negative campaigning would lose support.
Ma's appeal came after President Chen Shui-bian's (
Recent opinion polls show that Chen and Lien are running neck and neck. A local newspaper yesterday said that Chen and Lien were level in a major survey of voters.
Both candidates received support of 35 percent from those polled, the China Times said. The remainder were undecided.
Chen's support dropped one percentage point while Lien's support rose one percentage point from a week earlier, the newspaper said.
About 29 percent of respondents said they could not tell which side's allegation was more convincing, and 30 percent said they believed neither side, it said.
Only 15 percent said they believed Chen's allegations, and 12 percent believed Lien's accusations. Another 12 percent said both sides were culpable, while the rest gave no opinion.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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