Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) holds the lead in popular support over People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), with more than 45 percent support to Soong’s 30.1 percent, if the two ran against each other in January’s presidential election, the DPP said yesterday, citing the latest results of an internal poll.
Soong on Tuesday said that he would consider making a bid for presidency if the public deemed him capable.
According to the DPP’s internal poll, Tsai led with 53 percent in a one-on-one presidential election against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopeful Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who garnered 30.9 percent.
If all three were to run for president, 45.4 percent of voters would vote for Tsai, 22 percent for Hung and 21.4 percent for Soong, the DPP’s internal poll found.
The poll asked respondents to assess their own cross-strait leanings and each candidate or potential candidate’s cross-strait policy on a scale of zero to 10, with unification being zero and independence being 10, the party said.
The score averaged 6.3, with Tsai receiving 6.9, Hung 3.5 and Soong 4.5, the DPP said, adding that Tsai’s score came closest to the average.
The score indicates that public opinion on cross-strait relations is trending toward neutral, with a slight slant toward pro-independence, the DPP said, adding that Tsai’s stance came closest to the public’s expectations.
When asked which candidate’s cross-strait policies came closest to their own stance, 44.6 percent chose Tsai, 19.5 percent Hung and 19.6 percent Soong.
DPP analysts said that Soong was popular among supporters of both parties and that if he announces a bid for the presidency, he could take votes away from both the KMT and the DPP.
A one-on-one election is preferable for the DPP because it would be easier to handle the tempo and pace of the campaign strategy, the analysts said, adding that if there were three candidates, election decisions would become much more complicated because the party would have to consider the possibility of its two adversaries focusing on the DPP instead of each other.
Tsai would have a more than 50 percent chance of winning if she went up against Hung in a one-on-one election, but her chances would drop if Soong weighed in with a bid, the analysts said.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS