With only 11 days remaining before the Jan. 16 presidential election, the gap between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponent, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), has narrowed to 8 percentage points, according to the KMT’s latest internal survey released yesterday.
The telephone-based survey was conducted among people aged 20 years and older on Saturday evening, following the second televised presidential debate in the afternoon.
The poll showed that while Tsai maintained a lead over her rivals at 39.2 percent, she was just 8 percentage points ahead of Chu, who received an approval rating of 31.2 percent.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
The gap between Chu and Tsai was 9.5 percentage points in the KMT’s previous internal survey released on Dec. 22 last year, in which Tsai received 40.4 percent of support compared with Chu’s 30.9 percent.
Meanwhile, People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) garnered 10.7 percent approval, while 18.9 percent of respondents declined to express their voting preference, the KMT poll showed.
With regard to the three candidates’ performance during the two televised presidential debates, in terms of the clarity of their policies, 31.9 percent of respondents to the survey believed Chu outperformed the others, followed by Tsai at 30.4 percent and Soong at 19.3 percent.
About 18.3 percent of respondents said that they were unable to form a judgement.
“The polling results indicate that after two televised debates and policy presentations, the public’s faith in Chu, who has proposed concrete policies regarding the nation’s economy and future direction, has been growing,” the KMT said in a press release issued yesterday.
The KMT attributed the growth in Chu’s approval rating to his expertise in finance and abundant experience at governing, which it said have helped the KMT chairman achieve stellar business solicitation results and lay out detailed policies concerning people’s livelihood.
“Also, it is worth noting that among all age groups, the 20-29 demographic had the highest percentage of people who believed Chu delivered the best performance at the debates, at 46.5 percent,” the statement said.
“It shows that Chu’s employment and income boosting policies have been recognized by the majority of young people in the nation,” it added.
In contrast, Tsai’s inability to clearly elaborate on her policy proposals on cross-strait issues, foreign affairs, national defense, international trade, energy resources and the import ban on US pork containing ractopamine have apparently unnerved voters, the KMT statement added.
“Repeatedly checking her notes during debates and her failure to demonstrate leadership … or principles are also primary reasons behind her declining support rating,” the KMT said.
The poll collected 876 valid samples. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3.31 percentage points.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS