A poll by the Cross-Strait Policy Association (CSPA) has found that public support for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson and presidential hopeful Tsai Ing-wen sits at 50.2%. That’s compared with 29.3% support for Legislature Vice President Hung Hsiu-chu of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), Tsai’s probable rival in the 2016 presidential race,
The CSPA released the poll results at a press conference on Thursday. The poll broke down public attitudes towards both candidates in areas such as leadership, ability to defend Taiwan, reliability, international outlook and cross-strait policy.
Tsai fared particularly well in the area of cross-strait policy, with 63.1% support versus Hung’s 31.2%. Tsai has publically stated that her aim is to maintain the status quo, while Hung has discussed “one China with a single view” and raised the possibility of a cross-strait peace agreement.
CSPA President Tung Chen-yuan says that given the disparity of power between China and Taiwan, a cross-strait peace agreement would only aggravate political confrontation across the Taiwan Strait. Tung also says that such an agreement would change the status quo and generate internal chaos in Taiwan. According to Tung, the poll results show that Taiwanese people do not feel Hung Hsiu-chu will be able to maintain Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity.