With two weeks to go before the Taiwan presidential election on Jan 13, leading contender Lai Ching-te has widened his lead in the latest polls, as he plays the China card against his closest rival.
During the second round of televised policy presentations on Dec 26, Mr Lai of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) of being pro-Beijing, arguing that the KMT plans to put all its eggs in one China basket instead of diversifying the island's economy.
"This allegation shows Lai's campaign strategy is to hit on the linkage between China and the KMT, an old trick," Dr Liu Fu-kuo from National Chengchi University told The Straits Times.
China sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified eventually, but most Taiwanese prefer maintaining the status quo.
The DPP and KMT differ pointedly over their China policy. While the KMT recognises the so-called "92 Consensus", which posits that there is one China across both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the independence-leaning DPP does not.
According to the latest poll findings released by pollster My Formosa on Dec 28, Mr Lai and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim have garnered 40.0 per cent of support versus 28.9 per cent for the KMT team a gap of 11.1 percentage points. This has widened from the previous My Formosa poll on Dec 26, where the DPP had a lead of 9 percentage points.
The KMT is fielding Mr Hou Yuih and running mate Jaw Shawkong.
This story is from the December 29, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the December 29, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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