As the March 18 presidential election nears and the three main candidates remain locked in a close race, analysts said yesterday that the political camps are cautiously playing the so-called "ethnic card" -- playing up the differences between Taiwanese and mainlanders (
The KMT challenged Soong on the ethnic issue yesterday with Su Chih-cheng (蘇志誠), a close aide to President Lee Teng-hui (
Speaking in Taiwanese, Su accused Soong of using Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄), his running mate, as a puppet to attack Lee and hiding behind Chang to tackle dividing ethnic issues -- such as cross-strait relations.
PHOTO: CHIANG CHIA-MING, LIBERTY TIMES
But while political analysts said the ethnicity issue is a peripheral factor in the election, and that overplaying it may provoke a backlash, they said it could indeed influence the marginal number of "ethnic voters" who may swing the election results.
"The margin of victory will be very narrow in this election, around 5 to 10 percent," said Lin Jih-wen (
Other analysts said the KMT has more to gain by using the ethnic card than the Soong camp.
"The KMT is killing two birds with one stone," said political scientist Wang Yeh-lih (
"Then if Soong's support doesn't increase, it's likely his voters will engage in `strategic voting,'" Wang said, explaining that mainlander voters could shift their support to the KMT's Lien Chan (
Independent presidential candidate James Soong (
"Soong's ethnicity is his `original sin,'" Wang said "It is expected that he would use Chang to unleash verbal attacks on President Lee. He needs Chang to balance out his mainlander image."
Analysts said the KMT has more room in manipulating the ethnic issue to attack Soong.
"If Soong plays the ethnic card, he would run the risk of a face-off with Lee -- which would be too confrontational," Lin said.
"It's no use to pick on Lien because he cannot attract any votes, but Su is an easy target because he is seen as a mouthpiece for Lee," he said.
Wang agreed: "The candidates are walking on a tightrope. If they overdo it, it could backfire."
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