Public opinion polls released yesterday showed that independent Taipei mayoral hopeful Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) remain head and shoulders above their respective opponents in the run-up to the year-end elections, while Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) has erased his deficit in the rankings.
The polls in the three constituencies were conducted by the Chinese-language Apple Daily.
Ko is leading Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei matoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) with 44.33 percent to 32.82 percent, in a poll conducted on Friday, while Chu of the KMT kept a double-digit lead in support rates, with 48.98 percent to the 37.8 percent posted by his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rival, former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), in a poll conducted between July 5 and Monday last week.
With support from the pan-green camp, Ko increased his advantage over Lien, former Taipei EasyCard Co chairman and son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), from 10.6 percentage points in a similar poll last month to 11.5 percentage points as Sean Lien is struggling to revitalize his campaign in Taipei.
Former DPP lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), who announced his Taipei mayoral bid on June 13, ranked third at 9.36 percent and award-winning screenwriter Neil Peng (馮光遠) was fourth at 2.58 percent, with 10.91 percent of respondents declining to vote.
Analysts said that Shen, who has switched his political allegiance to the pan-blue camp after withdrawing from the DPP, could be a spoiler for Lien.
In response to the poll, Ko said support rates “rise and fall like the stock market index” and he would not interpret the surveys on a daily basis.
Lien said he had seen the results of several polls and they all differed, adding that his campaign would not be affected by them.
In the New Taipei City race, Chu remained far ahead of Yu with a 11.2-percentage point lead, but saw his advantage evaporate by almost 20 percentage points in a month, the poll showed. In a poll conducted by the Apple Daily last month, Chu led Yu by almost 30 percentage points, 53.47 percent to 25.6 percent.
A poll in Taoyuan County found that Wu appeared to have survived a slump last month, when he was hurt by a corruption scandal involving his deputy, Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文), and trailed DPP candidate Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) by 5.5 percentage points.
According to the survey, Wu is hanging on to a small lead — 42.53 percent to 39.6 percent — over Cheng, which fell closely within the margin of error, with 17.77 percent of respondents undecided.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS