It would be a tight contest between Vice President William Lai (賴清德), New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) if next year’s presidential election involved the three potential candidates, a public opinion poll released yesterday said.
Lai, Hou and Ko received 34 percent, 31.4 percent and 22.3 percent support respectively in the poll, the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation told a news conference in Taipei.
The foundation’s poll for this month found that 36.7 percent of respondents backed Hou to run for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), while 28.6 percent supported Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), 7.9 percent supported KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), 4 percent supported Broadcasting Corp of China (中國廣播) chairman Jaw Shaw-kang (趙少康) and 22.8 percent said they did not know.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
Of the respondents, 57.7 percent supported Lai, who is chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), in the presidential election, while 16.7 percent picked former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to represent the party, 5.9 percent chose Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and 19.8 percent said they did not know.
Compared with the foundation’s poll last month, Hou’s support rating dropped 7.3 percentage points, Lai’s increased 5 percentage points and Ko’s rose 4.5 percentage points.
Hou’s declining support shows that people are becoming aware that he has a limited say in national affairs in his current role, foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) said, adding that Lai’s support increased because his bid to become DPP chairman made him the focus of the recent news cycle.
In terms of party support, 26.1 percent backed the DPP, 21.5 percent chose the KMT and 20.3 percent supported the Taiwan People’s Party, while the New Power Party and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party each received the backing of 4.3 percent, the poll showed.
Of the remainder, 1.2 percent supported other political parties, 21.3 percent said they do not support any party and 1 percent said they did not know who to choose.
The poll found that 49.5 percent were dissatisfied with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) cross-strait policies, 38.5 percent were satisfied, 9.8 percent had no opinion and 2.2 percent said they did not know.
Seventy-two percent supported extending mandatory military service to one year, 17.3 percent opposed the policy, 7.9 percent did not have an opinion and 2.1 percent said they did not know.
Fifty-seven percent were dissatisfied with the performance of Su’s Cabinet, 35.8 percent approved of it, 5.4 percent had no opinion and 1.8 percent did not know.
Regarding the Taiwan-friendly portions of the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 passed last month, 59.1 percent said they welcomed military assistance from Washington, while 28.4 percent did not, 7.8 percent had no opinion and 4.8 percent did not know.
Asked whether US military aid would push Taiwan into a war, 53.4 percent disagreed, 38.1 percent agreed, 5.5 percent did not have an opinion and 3 percent did not know.
The poll was conducted from Monday to Wednesday last week by calling landline telephones, and targeted adults aged 20 or older. The poll had a valid sample of 1,085 and a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative