Staff reporter
During the final presidential debate on Sunday the two candidates focused on personal attacks rather than explaining their policies, making it unlikely that either would have expanded their support base or attracted swing voters, analysts said.
National Sun Yat-sen University political science professor Liao Da-chi (廖達琪) said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over his moral character and "cross-strait common market" policy but failed to explain his own manifesto, including his "happiness economy" and "reconciliation and coexistence" policies.
Although Hsieh's fierce challenges created an opportunity for Ma to defend and promote his policies, Ma still failed to present a clear explanation of his policies, especially the complicated "cross-strait common market" concept, Liao said.
Hsieh lambasted Ma's economic policies and proposed putting the "cross-strait common market" to the public in a referendum during the debate and in his closing remarks, urged voters who support the common market to vote for Ma and voters that oppose it to vote for him.
Ma, while being mostly on the defensive, focused his attacks on the performance of the DPP administration over the past eight years, hoping to connect Hsieh with the failures, as he sees them, of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration.
Shih Cheng-feng (
"Hsieh is smarter than President Chen. Rather than discussing the Taiwan sovereignty issue directly, he wrapped the issue in the common market concept. It's a brilliant strategy," Shih said.
However, neither candidate presented any new policies and turned the debate into a dull defensive battle in order to consolidate their support bases, Shih said.
Comparing the different formats of the debates, Shih described the questions asked during the first debate on Feb. 24 as "out of focus" and "shallow." Shih criticized the organizers for holding the second debate two weeks prior to the election, giving voters little chance to gain a deeper understanding of candidates' policies.
During the first debate, the two candidates were asked 20 videotaped questions from voters who were also given the opportunity to attend and question both candidates directly. Each candidate was given one minute to answer each question.
Sunday's debate returned to a more traditional format, inviting managers from five major media outlets to ask 10 questions, with the candidates given three minutes to answer each question.
Political analyst Wang Kung-yi (王崑義), a professor at National Taiwan Ocean University, said the questions, ranging from constitutional reform, economic policy to national defense, were more familiar issues for the candidates than the issues addressed in the first debate, such as environmental protection.
"It was good to see the candidates focus more on economic policy than on national identity and sovereignty," Wang said.
More focus on the economy rather than on national identity would lead the nation toward "normalization," he said.
Liao agreed that the questions on Sunday gave the candidates the opportunity to elaborate more on their policies, but added that the first debate had been an innovative attempt at "civil" politics.
"The questions raised by the public, although diverse, concerned our daily lives and should not be overlooked," she said.
Liao said she was concerned about the lack of female representation from the media and the lack of questions concerning women's and minority issues asked during the debate.
Wang Tai-li (王泰俐), a journalism professor at National Chengchi University, suggested the government should learn from the US and set up a commission to organize presidential debates.
In addition to encouraging representatives from minority groups to participate, Wang also called on the organizers to redesign the debate format and allow the candidates to ask follow-up questions.
The presidential debates were co-organized by the Central News Agency, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper), the China Times, the United Daily News, the Apple Daily and Public Television Service (PTS).
Shih suggested that the organizers hold more debates during the next election, each focusing on a separate issue, such as foreign policy and the economy.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and