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Taiwan elections: ‘Slip of tongue’ does not dent Lai’s lead in final polls ahead of blackout

2024-01-02 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-亚洲原网页

With a blackout on opinion polls kicking in on Jan 3, 10 days before the Jan 13 Taiwan presidential elections, Mr Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is still leading despite a controversy over what he calls a “slip of the tongue”.

Mr Lai and running mate Hsiao Bi-khim have held on to their lead after the presidential candidate debate on Dec 30.

A poll by broadcaster TVBS on the evening of Jan 1 found 33 per cent of respondents said they would support the DPP team, with 30 per cent backing the Kuomintang (KMT), and 22 per cent the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).

A survey released on Dec 31 by news site EToday also found the DPP duo in the lead with 35.4 per cent, over the KMT team’s 33.4 per cent and the TPP’s 22.1 per cent.

The DPP duo are also tops in their debating performance, at least according to one survey.

In a TVBS survey right after the Dec 30 debate, about a third of respondents picked Mr Lai as the best performer in the debate, with a tie between KMT’s Mr Hou Yu-ih and TPP’s Dr Ko Wen-je in second place.

Ms Hsiao also acquitted herself well in a debate with the other vice-presidential contenders on Jan 1.

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Four in 10 people in a Jan 1 TVBS poll after the debate named Ms Hsiao, former Taiwan representative to the United States, the best debater.

In comparison, 31 per cent picked KMT’s Mr Jaw Shaw-kong, and 7 per cent Ms Cynthia Wu of the TPP.

During the debate, Ms Hsiao remained calm even as Mr Jaw, a prominent media commentator, took a dig at her for saying in a 2003 interview that “we no longer identify ourselves with the Republic of China”.

In response, Ms Hsiao said the KMT has been turning boxes upside down to try to find damning evidence against the DPP, and has to resort to digging up things from more than 20 years ago.

She argued that she was talking about how people from Taiwan usually refer to themselves as Taiwanese when overseas, to distinguish themselves from citizens of the People’s Republic of China.

Ms Wu, who was often left out of the exchanges between Mr Jaw and Ms Hsiao, pleaded at one point for them to not ignore her presence: “Please do not treat me as oxygen.”

(From left) Ms Hsiao Bi-khim of the DPP, Ms Cynthia Wu of the TPP and KMT’s Mr Jaw Shaw-kong during a televised vice presidential debate in Taipei. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Notwithstanding his lead in the opinion polls, Mr Lai has come under attack for an eyebrow-raising remark about the Republic of China (ROC) – as Taiwan is officially known – during the debate.

Mr Lai made the comment during a round in which the candidates had to answer questions from the media, including their views on the ROC Constitution.

Mr Hou of the KMT had, in his past speeches, likened the ROC Constitution to a magic mountain protecting Taiwan (“hu guo shen shan”) in cross-strait relations.

Noting that the People’s Republic of China does not agree to the existence of the ROC, Mr Lai disagreed that the ROC Constitution is like a magic mountain.

“Today if we regard the ROC as a hu guo shen shan in cross-strait ties, is this going to foster peace or bring disaster to Taiwan?” he asked during the presidential candidate debate.