Polls yesterday disagreed whether President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) or former premier William Lai (賴清德) would be the leading presidential hopeful for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in a three-way presidential election against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) likely candidates and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
The Cross-Strait Policy Association described Tsai as gaining on Lai in the three-way race for the first time in its polls.
Should Tsai run against the KMT’s Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and Ko, an independent, Han, Tsai and Ko would respectively claim 32.6 percent, 27.9 percent and 26 percent of the vote, it said.
Photo: CNA
If Lai ran, he would win 26.8 percent of the vote, trailing Han and Ko by 4.8 percent and 1.8 percent respectively, or underperforming Tsai by 0.1 percent, it said.
In a race against Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Ko, Tsai would win 28 percent of the vote against Gou’s 30.2 percent and Ko’s 28 percent, or a slight improvement over Lai’s 27.3 percent, it said.
Tsai’s performance in the three-way races has improved over the past two polls, where Lai led her by one or two points, depending on the scenario, it said.
The poll, which had a margin of error of 2.95 percentage points and 1,101 valid samples, was conducted by telephone on Monday and Tuesday last week, the association said.
However, a separate poll released by the New Constitution Foundation showed that Lai would outperform Tsai against Ko and either Han or Guo.
In a three-way race against Ko and Han, Lai would claim 30.5 of the vote, outperforming Tsai’s 28 percent, whereas in a race with Ko and Gou, Lai would win 30.9 percent of the vote, more than Tsai’s 26.7 percent, it said.
Within the DPP, Lai and Tsai had approval ratings of 47.3 percent and 32 percent respectively, largely unchanged from the foundation’s previous poll, it said, adding that 42.7 percent of respondents expressed unhappiness with the DPP’s decision to delay its presidential primary.
Within the KMT, Han has the highest approval rating at 35.1 percent, ahead of KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) 19.9 percent, Guo’s 17.3 percent and former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) 14 percent, it said.
The poll, conducted on Thursday and Friday last week, had a margin of error of 3 percentage points and collected 1,069 valid samples.
In related news, a group of pro-localization organizations yesterday held a news conference in support of Lai.
Medical practitioner Chen Yung-hsin (陳永興) said Lai has been running a clean campaign, while the DPP leadership has repeatedly changed the rules of the primary and its schedule to “rig the game in favor of the incumbent.”
A petition to establish an “association of friends of William Lai” had gathered 1,101 signatures since Tuesday, including 288 doctors, with 2,000 signatures being the goal, he added.
Additional reporting by Peng Wan-hsin
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or