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Mr Ma's (above) support rose to 54 per cent, up five percent compared with last week, while support for Mr Hsieh rose from 19 per cent to 20 per cent. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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TAIPEI - WITH the presidential vote barely three weeks away, Taiwan's nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party candidate Ma Ying Jeou has widened his lead over rival Frank Hsieh of the ruling party, a poll said on Sunday.
The survey of 1,264 people by television network TVBS indicated that Hsieh of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had failed to cash in on last week's huge rally honouring thousands killed in a 1947 crackdown by KMT troops.
Mr Ma's support rose to 54 per cent, up five percent compared with last week, while support for Mr Hsieh rose from 19 per cent to 20 per cent.
During the opening of a special exhibition about 1947's so-called Feb 28 incident, President Chen Shui Bian of the DPP tried to evoke the painful memories of the islanders.
Mr Chen urged to the public to 'remember the lesson' of the massacre, which he blames on late nationalist leader Chiang Kai Shek, and launched a thinly veiled attack on the KMT which is trying to win his presidency from his DPP.
'Some people are unwilling to face the history of violating human rights under an authoritarian government,' he said.
The riots erupted when a Kuomintang inspector beat a female vendor in Taipei for selling untaxed cigarettes.
Fifty-two per cent of the people polled by TVBS said they believe Mr Ma, if elected, could safeguard Taiwan's interests, compared with 43 per cent of his DPP competitor.
Over the past weeks, Mr Hsieh and his campaign officers have stepped up their attacks on Mr Ma, warning that if the Hong Kong-born politician could sell out the island to Beijing, an allegation flatly rejected by Ma and the KMT party.
Mr Ma has centred his campaign platform on economic issues, pledging to revive the island's economy which he said has been stagnant under DPP ruling during the last eight years.
He told business leaders on Friday that he would launch weekend charter flight services between Taiwan and China - bitter rivals since their split in 1947 - by July 1 before upgrading to daily operations.
Mr Ma also vowed to allow more Chinese tourists to visit the island, with a quota of 10,000 a day in four years.
Mr Hsieh, while also promising to improve ties with Beijing, cautioned against dramatic lifting of the government's existing restrictions on private exchanges with China, citing Beijing's hostilities towards the island.
Beijing has repeatedly vowed to take Taiwan by force should the island declare independence. -- AFP
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