DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen.

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) The lead enjoyed by opposition Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) over the ruling Kuomintang's (KMT's) Eric Chu (朱立倫) has narrowed to 10 percentage points for the first time, according to the latest survey conducted by the KMT.

The survey shows 39 percent support for Tsai and her running-mate Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), 29.7 percent for Chu and Wang Ju-hsuan (王如玄), and 13 percent for James Soong (宋楚瑜) of the People First Party (PFP) and his running-mate Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩).

This is the first time that Tsai's support ratings have fallen below 40 percent, KMT officials said, attributing the drop to her evasion of presidential debates and her implication in a case of land speculation.

Chu's support ratings, meanwhile, have risen slightly from 27 percent, which demonstrates that the impact from the controversy over Wang's real estate investments has been minimized, KMT officials said.

However, they admitted that Chu needs to continue to work harder, given the limited increase in his support ratings.

(By Claudia Liu and Y.F. Low)
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