One of the most worrying aspects about the March 18 presidential election is the lack of clarity on cross-strait issues among the candidates, according to the results of a survey released yesterday by the Chinese-language Business Weekly magazine.
"The cross-strait stances of each of the candidates all lack any sort of consensus. There are at least five or six ideologically different stances," stated a press release from a group of six scholars associated with the magazine.
Ranking the candidates on a scale of 100 points -- based on the completeness, reliability and probability of their policies -- the survey gave KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰) the highest marks at 76.4. Independent James Soong (宋楚瑜) scored 75.5, independent Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) a 74, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) 68.8, and New Party candidate Li Ao (李傲) scored 68.
None of the candidates were given a rating of A, but Lien, Soong and Hsu were given a B and Chen and Li were given C's for their policies.
Scholars and sponsors of the survey said the poll results left it unclear whether any of the candidates had what it takes to resolve what they felt would be the next president's biggest challenge -- a factor they said makes things even more difficult for voters.
"It's a difficult decision to make -- maybe with some candidates you like their domestic policies but you don't like their cross-strait policies," said Hsu Szu-chien, an assistant research fellow at National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations.
The survey was conducted to "allow voters to consider more thoroughly the choice they are making and what it means," Hsu said. "Pressure [on Taiwan] to negotiate is getting greater, [making] this issue even more important."
Shih Chi-ping (
"[We] will not be able to avoid this serious situation," Shih said.
"Finding a political negotiator with great skills or political acumen may be a difficult task. Maybe that person doesn't exist," he said. "Whatever the case may be, we need to choose the better candidate."
Arthur Ting (
"There are still a lot of people who haven't made up their minds, even after the white paper was released," Ting said, referring to the position paper released by China last week that called on Taiwan to accept Beijing's one-China model. It demanded that Taiwan not delay reunification indefinitely, saying that force could be used against the island.
"This year the threat is not like in 1996, because then the missiles were right in our backyard; the sense of crisis is not as great as what it was in 1996," Ting said.
"The white paper has seemingly had very little impact on the support levels for each of the candidates," he added.
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RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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