A poll released yesterday by the Chinese-language Apple Daily about presidential election prospects prompted a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker to accuse the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of rigging the poll.
The survey showed that Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), the KMT’s presidential primary candidate, was supported by 54.91 percent of respondents, and would overwhelm DPP Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) if the presidential election, scheduled for January, were held now.
According to the poll, Hung would beat Tsai by 50.05 percent to 28.47 percent.
KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) said the results of the Apple Daily poll were “impossibly different” from previous polls, and that other KMT legislators were blaming the anomaly on the DPP.
However, DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) demanded that the KMT provide proof of its allegations, adding that the DPP had not mobilized its members to manipulate the survey.
The poll results reflect the public’s sympathy for Hung amid the KMT’s opaque and inconsistent nominating mechanism, which had turned her into “the victim of a ‘black box’ operation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hung said that such survey results are just for reference and that she put greater emphasis on grassroots voters’ responses.
While Hung was the only KMT member to secure the required 15,000 signatures to support her primary registration, she must also win the support of at least 30 percent of party members in a poll.
Hung and KMT headquarters have yet to agree on the poll’s format. KMT Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) has proposed the poll pit Hung against the DPP’s Tsai, but Hung said she does not accept that idea.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS