Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday dismissed People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) surge in the polls as just a “temporary phenomenon.”
Asked about her and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) falling poll numbers after Soong announced his presidential bid on Thursday, Hung said she was “not worried.”
“Soong had a successful news conference [on Thursday], and in Taiwan, poll numbers can be temporarily lifted by single events or a random occurrences. However, after calm deliberation and careful observation, the result is likely to be different,” she said.
The deputy legislative speaker added that as the presidential candidate officially nominated by the KMT, with the approval of the party’s national congress, it was not possible to conduct another poll with other pan-blue candidates.
Asked about rumors that the KMT might “abandon Hung to secure support for Soong,” Hung said it was too early to tell as there were still months left until the election on Jan. 16.
“What Taiwan needs is to forsake wicked and crooked ways, and secure a middle ground,” she said.
A survey conducted by the Chinese-language United Daily News immediately following Soong’s announcement showed that while Tsai continued to lead with 36 percent, support for Hung dropped to 17 percent and lagged behind Soong’s 24 percent.
An earlier United Daily News poll conducted on Thursday prior to Soong’s announcement showed Hung in second place with a support rate of 25 percent.
The poll results also showed that as many as 68 percent of pan-blue supporters said they support Hung, while 15 percent said they support Tsai.
However, after Soong joined the race, 26 percent of pan-blue supporters said they would switch their support to Soong, while only 55 percent remained loyal to Hung. Support for Tsai among pan-blue supporters dropped to 8 percent after Soong joined the race.
Additional reporting by: Loa Iok-sin
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS