President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has increased his lead over Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in the January presidential election both in a head-to-head battle and a possible three-way race, a survey by the Taiwanese Association for Pacific Ocean Development (TAPOD) showed.
Results of the poll, conducted from Monday last week through Wednesday with 1,623 valid samples, were released at a press conference yesterday.
The poll showed that 43.2 percent of respondents would vote for Ma, while 35.9 percent would vote for Tsai. However, if People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) joined the race, Ma’s support would drop to 33.6 percent, while Tsai’s would drop to 29.8 percent, with Soong receiving 11.5 percent, while 16.9 percent were undecided.
In comparison with the first poll TAPOD released last month, Ma, who is seeking re-election, has increased his lead from 1.7 percent over Tsai in a head-to-head contest.
In a three-way race, Ma’s lead over Tsai went up from 0.7 percent.
Contrary to most surveys, which have shown that 20 percent of voters remain undecided, TAPOD chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said the poll found more than half of respondents had yet to make up their mind.
Additional questions found more than 70 percent of respondents opposed Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) claim that “Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China belong to ‘one China,’” including 44 percent who said they “strongly disagree” with the claim.
“Judging from the survey, we are almost certain that a majority of Taiwanese don’t agree with Hu’s ‘one China’ principle,” You said.
Meanwhile, more than 60 percent of respondents disagreed with the contention that “Taiwan will become part of the People’s Republic of China sooner or later if Ma is re-elected,” the poll showed.
Claims by Tsai last week that Ma could “sell out” Taiwan and its people do not appear to resonate with most voters, You said.
A question on voters’ psychological involvement found only 35.4 percent of respondents were highly interested in the presidential election, with about 30 percent saying they “were somewhat interested or not interested in the election at all.”
The results would be a concern for Tsai, You said, as past elections have shown that a “cooler campaign atmosphere” benefits Ma’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), while intensely contested elections favor the Democratic Progressive Party.
“If the survey result is correct, this election is going to be a ‘cool’ one,” You 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
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
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