There are growing signs that next year’s elections will be hotly contested, with the latest poll suggesting that support in the presidential race is still evenly split with eight months left before the election.
Confirming earlier media polls, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) are neck-and-neck, according to a Global Views poll released yesterday.
“It’s an extremely small difference — and based on our analysis, their position right now is basically the same,” said Tai Li-an (戴立安), director of the Global Views Survey Research Center. “Most voters appear to have already made up their minds.”
Ma polled 38.9 percent, slightly above Tsai’s 38.6 percent — reflecting for the poll a difference of about three telephone calls in the 1,270-call survey the center conducted.
A two-way presidential race has never been this close with eight months left before the elections, said Hong Chi-chang (洪奇昌), head of the Taiwan Economy and Industry Association, who analyzed the numbers.
Nearly four-fifths of voters have already made up their minds, according to the poll, which -predicted that turnout would top 75 percent — among the highest on record. The figures signal that next year will be an extremely close election, he said.
The Global Views poll gave both Ma and Tsai room for improvement, comparing the two side by side on issues likely to dominate election headlines later this year.
Ma led Tsai by double digit numbers when voters were asked which candidate had a better record in terms of administration experience (45.5 percent to 28.3 percent) and who would better ensure Taiwan’s interest and cross-strait peace (48.3 percent to 31.7 percent).
However, Tsai led in areas like her ability to engage in public dialogue on major policies (41.4 percent to 34.3 percent) and her leadership and management capabilities (42.1 percent to 31.4 percent).
The Global Views survey was also consistent with unreleased party polls that also show the two candidates in a fifty-fifty split, DPP spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.
The Global Views poll was conducted nationwide on Monday and Tuesday. It has a margin of error of 2.7 percent.
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