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."
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
Air and rail traffic around Taiwan were disrupted today while power cuts occurred across the country as Typhoon Kong-rey, predicted to make landfall in eastern Taiwan this afternoon, continued edging closer to the country. A total of 241 passenger and cargo flights departing from or arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were canceled today due to the typhoon, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. As of 9:30am, 109 inbound flights, 103 outbound flights and 29 cargo flights had been canceled, the company said. Taiwan Railway Corp also canceled all express trains on its Western Trunk Line, Eastern Trunk Line, South-Link Line and attached branches
Typhoon Kong-rey is forecast to make landfall in eastern Taiwan this afternoon and would move out to sea sometime overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 9am today, Kong-rey's outer rim was covering most of Taiwan except for the north. The storm's center was 110km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost tip, and moving northwest at 28kph. It was carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of 184kph, and gusts of up to 227kph, the CWA said. At a news conference this morning, CWA forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) said Kong-rey is moving "extremely fast," and is expected to make landfall between