President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would face considerable difficulty were she to seek re-election, while Premier William Lai (賴清德) has emerged as the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) strongest candidate for the 2020 presidential election, a pan-green think tank said yesterday.
Ahead of the second anniversary of Tsai’s election on Tuesday next week, Taiwan Brain Trust released a survey gauging voters’ views on the 2020 election, which found that Lai outperformed Tsai by a large margin.
The think tank is funded by former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), a pro-Taiwan independence heavyweight who is seen as discriminating against female leaders after he said in 2006 that “those wearing dresses are unfit to be president.”
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
While 32.4 percent of respondents believed that Tsai would be re-elected in 2020, 43.9 percent said she would not, while 30.7 percent said they were satisfied with Tsai’s performance, with 51.1 percent unsatisfied, the foundation said.
National Dong Hwa University professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) said Tsai’s ratio of approval to disapproval has come down to the DPP’s basic support base, suggesting that the president’s popularity has waned and she has lost the support of neutral voters.
Meanwhile, 44 percent said they were satisfied with Lai’s performance, compared with 35.1 percent who were unsatisfied.
Asked whether they would prefer Tsai or Lai as the next president, 42.3 percent supported Lai and only 24.4 percent supported Tsai.
When pitted against possible Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates, Tsai’s support rating of 45.4 percent compared well with KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) 29.6 percent.
However, Tsai’s support rating fell to 38.2 percent if she were to run against New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who would win the presidency with a support rating of 43.9 percent, the poll showed.
In a survey by the foundation in July last year, Tsai was more popular than Chu, with a 41.2 percent support rating, compared with 38.2 percent for Chu, and the rise in Chu’s support rate suggests a KMT comeback, the foundation said.
If the DPP were to nominate Lai as its presidential candidate, he would have a 57.7 percent support rating, while Wu’s would fall to 22.1 percent, and he would enjoy 47.9 percent support against Chu, who would be supported by 35 percent.
If pitted against Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), who it was assumed would run as an independent candidate with the KMT forfeiting the election to make way for him, Tsai would receive 40.2 percent support against 44.6 percent for Gou, while Lai would enjoy 50.5 percent support and Gou 38.4 percent.
In a hypothetical three-legged race involving Tsai, Wu and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), Ko would win the presidency with a support rating of 35.3 percent against 31.6 percent for Tsai and 17.8 percent for Wu, the poll showed.
The election would become a close race if the candidates were Ko, Tsai and Chu, as their support rating among respondents in such a scenario stood at 30 percent, 29 percent and 29.8 percent respectively, the foundation said.
If the DPP were to nominate Lai against Ko and a KMT candidate, Lai would win by a comfortable margin, as 44.6 percent of respondents said they would support Lai, compared with 26.6 percent for Ko and 16.1 percent for Wu; while Lai would have the support of 40.7 percent against Chu, who would have 27.8 percent of the vote, while Ko would get 22 percent.
The survey was conducted on Monday and Tuesday and collected 1,074 valid samples.
It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS