CHINA’S SHADOW:Separate surveys by two think tanks showed increasing concern over Chinese companies acquiring shares in Taiwan’s high-tech and media industries

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 31, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

More than a quarter of the voters who backed President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)

A Taiwan Thinktank member in Taipei yesterday points to a graphic explaining the results of its latest opinion poll. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

in 2012 would vote for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) next month, a survey taken after the presidential debate on Sunday showed.

Taiwan Thinktank yesterday released the results of the poll conducted on Sunday and Monday, which showed that 45.9 percent said Tsai did better than her two rivals in the debate, while 22.1 percent said that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) was the best among the three and 19.9 percent rooted for People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜).

The survey showed that 31.7 percent said they would choose to support a candidate based on their performance in a debate, while 67.5 percent said they would not. The numbers indicate that while debates — with another one scheduled on Saturday — might not have a major effect on a candidate’s popularity, they could solidify voters’ preferences, the think tank said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Kuomintang presidential candidate Eric Liluan Chu

Chu confirms nuclear-free consensus.

told business associations Tuesday that the trend toward a nuclear-free Taiwan was impossible to turn back.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party has proposed to turn the country nuclear-free by 2025, a policy which has come under fire from the KMT for being unrealistic and threatening higher prices.

As the third and final presidential candidate after the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen and People First Party Chairman James Soong to address a forum hosted by seven business organizations, Chu said that a nuclear-free homeland had become a national consensus, and that the public had to change its attitude and learn how to conserve energy.

Energy should be safe, clean, effective and reasonably priced, the ruling party candidate said. Chu defended his statements in favor of a nuclear-free homeland as being not motivated by ideology, but by common sense. He wanted a gradual reduction in the use of nuclear energy which was responsible to the public, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-27
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The election debate on Sunday continued to revolve around the “1992

Debate revolves around 92 Consensus, economy.

Consensus” and cross-strait relations as Kuomintang presidential candidate Eric Chu repeatedly attacked his contender over the subject.

Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen however retaliated Chu that she has expressed her stance on the 1992 Consensus many times before, adding that the DPP will do its utmost to maintain the status quo, as well as to maintain good communication so that there are no misunderstandings while managing the relationship.

The first televised debate among three presidential candidates was hosted by Public Television Service (PTS) in the afternoon, one of the nine media sponsors agreed upon by the candidates. After giving out their opening speeches, the three candidates – Eric Chu of the ruling KMT, Tsai of the DPP and James Soong of the People First Party (PFP) – then faced five questions posed by media sponsors, before each was allowed to challenge their counterparts with their own questions and make a closing statement.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/27
By: Milly Lin, Hsu Chih-wei and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Dec. 27 (CNA) Business group leaders and academics said the economic

Wang Ying-chieh (CNA file photo)

goals set by presidential candidates during their first TV debate Sunday are difficult to achieve, based on the strategies they proposed for reaching the targets.

For example, Koumintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu’s wage increase proposal is very difficult to realize and, even if done, could lead to a “malicious” inflation, said Wang Ying-chieh, chairman of Taipei Chamber of Commerce.

A senior executive at the National Association of Small & Medium Enterprises, ROC said when the economy is in a slump, how could business owners increase wages for their employees? Besides, he added, pay increase will involve the legal cost for business operators.

The association executive, who requested anonymity, also questioned the feasibility of Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman’s proposal to throw state power behind the high-tech sector to counter China’s threat of “red supply chain.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-27
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen pointed out during the televised election debate on Sunday that the government needs to help local hog farms boost their level of the game in order to compete with U.S. pork imports.

Commenting on a question posed by the Apple Daily regarding if Tsai would allow pork containing ractopamine from the United States in exchange for Taiwan’s inclusion in the U.S.-led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Tsai said raising the nation’s competitiveness will help promote its bargaining chip when it comes to negotiating with the U.S. in the importation of agricultural produce.

“If elected, the new government pledges to use extremely high standards for examining the labeling of foreign pork at the home market,” she said.

The presidential candidate noted that locally produced pork products are not allowed to contain ractopamine, which is important to differentiate them from foreign products.   [FULL  STORY]

REDEFINING CONSENSUS:The use of the so-called ‘1992 consensus’ must be discussed, Tsai Ing-wen said, but Eric Chu shook his head eight times while she spoke

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 28, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter Staff reporter

The three presidential candidates yesterday exchanged barbs in their first

A man yesterday walks past a police barrier outside the Public Television Service (PTS) building in Taipei’s Neihu District, where a presidential election debate was being held. Photo: CNA

televised debate, putting the spotlight on cross-strait relations while engaging in finger-pointing over several contentious issues.

The closely watched presidential debate, broadcast by Public Television Service (PTS), began at 2pm with each candidate delivering an eight-minute opening remark.

That was followed by questions from five media representatives, including Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) deputy editor-in-chief Tzou Jiing-wen (鄒景雯), Central News Agency vice president and editor-in-chief Sheena Chang (張慧英), United Daily News editor-in-chief Yu Mei-yueh (游美月), China Times deputy director-in-chief James Chang (張景為) and Apple Daily Policy and Political Center executive vice president Kuo Shu-min (郭淑敏).

The candidates posed three questions each to their opponents in the third part of the debate, before making concluding remarks.     [FULL  STORY]