A joint bid to lead the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) by media personality and Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) and former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) would receive the highest support among KMT supporters, a survey conducted by the pan-green camp showed yesterday.
Jaw on Monday announced that he had applied to restore his KMT membership and that he did not rule out entering the race for party chairperson.
KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) on Wednesday said that Jaw’s request to return to the KMT has been approved and that Jaw would be appointed to the party’s Central Advisory Committee after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Photo: Lu Hsin-te, Taipei Times
The survey showed that while the general public preferred former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) as KMT chairman, polling of KMT members showed their preference for Jaw.
However, if Han were to enter the race, but not Jaw, KMT supporters showed a preference for Chu, giving him a lead of 4.3 percentage points over Han, it showed.
If the general public were to choose between Chu, Jaw, Chiang and Sean Lien (連勝文), a former Taipei mayoral candidate and son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), they also preferred Chu, with Chu leading at 41 percent and all other candidates following at less than 20 percent, including Jaw at 18 percent, it showed.
However, self-identified KMT supporters, when asked the same question, gave Jaw the lead at 41.9 percent, followed by Chu at 34.9 percent and Han at 29 percent, the survey showed.
Han’s move to bring back Jaw might be a winning strategy to seize power in the KMT, as this could marginalize Chiang and Lien, pundits said.
However, the survey also showed lower backing for Jaw and Han among younger KMT supporters, those under 40 years old.
Pundits said that the return of Jaw, 70, would not rejuvenate the KMT, although he was once considered the party’s “golden boy" before he left in 1993 to found the New Party.
EIGHT KILLED: Three of the four juvenile victims were children of the man suspected of setting the fire at the tire repair shop after a family dispute Four of the eight people killed in a fire in Hsinchu City on Wednesday night were children and the other four were adults who died while trying to rescue the children from the second floor of the burning building, the city’s Fire Bureau said yesterday. Fire Bureau First Corps commander Chang Chih-chih (張智智) told a news conference that the fire at Zheng Yi Tire Repair Shop on Dongda Road might have been intentionally set by the owner’s son, Chen Yen-hsiang (陳彥翔), who earlier had an argument with other family members. Chen allegedly bought gasoline and lit a fire near four motorcycles inside
FIFA World Cup host Qatar has corrected an online application form that listed Taiwan as part of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Following the ministry’s protest on Wednesday, “Taiwan” replaced “Taiwan, Province of China” on a dropdown menu on the Web site to apply for a Hayya Card, an identification card all World Cup spectators are required to obtain, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said. “We express our appreciation to the event organizers for their swift response in making the correction and safeguarding the rights of our nation’s fans,” she added. The card also serves as an entry visa for
ALARM GROWS: US officials are concerned that China’s claim that the Taiwan Strait is an internal waterway is a deliberate effort to muddy the legal status of Taiwan US President Joe Biden’s administration has decided to reject a vague new assertion by China that the Taiwan Strait is not “international waters” and is increasingly concerned the stance could result in more frequent challenges at sea for Taiwan, people familiar with the matter said. Chinese officials have made such remarks repeatedly in meetings with US counterparts over the past few months. In the past, while China regularly protested US military moves in the Taiwan Strait, the legal status of the waters was not a regular talking point in meetings with US officials. The timing of the assertion is causing alarm within the
NEW TRAVEL REGIME: The CECC advised people to stay put in between quarantine and self-disease prevention, but said that they could apply for a location change Inbound travelers who need to change locations for the four-day self-disease prevention period following their three-day quarantine must apply with their local government, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The “one person per household” principle would remain in place under the new “3+4” quarantine policy, which was implemented yesterday, the center said. More than 4,500 incoming travelers were expected yesterday, including more than 980 people who entered Taiwan in the early morning, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), the CECC’s acting spokesman and medical response division deputy head. Lo said many people had asked the CECC whether
RSS