Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday dismissed People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) surge in the polls as just a “temporary phenomenon.”
Asked about her and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) falling poll numbers after Soong announced his presidential bid on Thursday, Hung said she was “not worried.”
“Soong had a successful news conference [on Thursday], and in Taiwan, poll numbers can be temporarily lifted by single events or a random occurrences. However, after calm deliberation and careful observation, the result is likely to be different,” she said.
The deputy legislative speaker added that as the presidential candidate officially nominated by the KMT, with the approval of the party’s national congress, it was not possible to conduct another poll with other pan-blue candidates.
Asked about rumors that the KMT might “abandon Hung to secure support for Soong,” Hung said it was too early to tell as there were still months left until the election on Jan. 16.
“What Taiwan needs is to forsake wicked and crooked ways, and secure a middle ground,” she said.
A survey conducted by the Chinese-language United Daily News immediately following Soong’s announcement showed that while Tsai continued to lead with 36 percent, support for Hung dropped to 17 percent and lagged behind Soong’s 24 percent.
An earlier United Daily News poll conducted on Thursday prior to Soong’s announcement showed Hung in second place with a support rate of 25 percent.
The poll results also showed that as many as 68 percent of pan-blue supporters said they support Hung, while 15 percent said they support Tsai.
However, after Soong joined the race, 26 percent of pan-blue supporters said they would switch their support to Soong, while only 55 percent remained loyal to Hung. Support for Tsai among pan-blue supporters dropped to 8 percent after Soong joined the race.
Additional reporting by: Loa Iok-sin
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit