Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) anti-China stance has seen her popularity rise to a new high after her party gained ground in the local elections at the weekend, a survey conducted by a local media group showed yesterday.
Tsai is backed by 43 percent of survey respondents, up from 27 percent in May, reported the Chinese-language United Daily News, which is generally perceived to sympathize with the pan-blue camp.
The newspaper said its survey of 1,066 voters was carried out on Sunday, the day after the DPP won control of an extra county in the local elections. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lost two counties it previously held.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who also serves as chairman of the KMT, was supported by 33 percent of the respondents, compared with 52 percent in May, the paper said.
The election was widely seen as a mid-term test of Ma’s performance during his 19 months as president.
The survey showed that voters had punished the KMT for several reasons, among them concern about the government’s push for a controversial trade agreement with China.
Meanwhile, while many said the DPP’s performance in Saturday’s elections had greatly increased Tsai’s chances for a possible run in next year’s Taipei City mayoral election, Tsai yesterday said no decision had been taken on a DPP candidate for the election.
Speaking via DPP Spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), Tsai said discussions over the nominations for next year’s elections had not been finalized and all talk of her candidacy was premature.
“Decisions regarding the candidacies for the special municipality elections must be thoroughly discussed within the party,” Tsai Chi-chang said.
The DPP clinched four counties — Pingtung, Yunlin, Chiayi and Yilan — with the latter being a leading indicator that the pan-green camp’s approval rating is on the way up and that the KMT’s popularity is waning.
In the races that the DPP lost, its candidates managed to narrow the gap on the KMT, making it the party’s highest number of votes in any major election except the 2004 presidential race.
The DPP caucus yesterday thanked the voters with a deep bow and said if Tsai Ing-wen was willing to personally take the candidacy for the Taipei City mayoral race, it would greatly boost the party’s morale and spirit.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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