A new opinion poll shows a majority of respondents saying they oppose the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) poll, the results of which were released yesterday, showed 45.8 percent of people polled were against signing the proposed trade pact, with 34.9 percent in favor.
Despite the government’s public relations blitz over the past month to promote the ECFA, a large majority of the public is still confused over the content of the proposed pact, the poll revealed.
More than three-quarters of respondents said the government had failed to clearly explain the proposed agreement, while more than half said they believe the agreement will undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The poll of 1,105 voters aged 20 and over, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, also found that 78.7 percent of respondents supported the creation of a cross-strait monitoring team in the legislature to review government agreements with China.
It also showed that 66.1 percent support a nationwide referendum to be held before the government signs an agreement. The poll has an overall margin of error of 2.9 percent.
“What the government has been doing has been wasteful. They have spent a lot of time and money, but still nearly 80 percent of the public say they don’t understand the agreement,” DPP poll center director Chen Chun-lin (陳俊麟) said. “The government needs to make clear what the positive and negative impacts of the ECFA are likely to be on Taiwan.”
Government agencies have been holding promotional events to drum up public support before the expected signing of the agreement in June.
Last week, a series of town hall meetings was criticized after it was revealed that government agencies have subsidized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers holding such events to the tune of up to NT$300,000 (US$9,400).
“Based on our long-term observations, opposition to the agreement has increased,” Chen said, adding that despite the president’s efforts to reach out to a more rural demographic by holding public meetings with farmers over the last three months, “he just hasn’t been able to connect with the people.”
The ECFA has drawn strong criticism from the DPP and labor organizations concerned that it will lead to a flood of cheap goods and increase Taiwan’s economic reliance on China. Farming organizations have also expressed worries that it could lead to an influx of agricultural products.
The poll indicated that the vast majority of people believe the agreement will favor corporate interests, with more than eight out of ten polled saying it would benefit big business over other segments of society, Chen said.
“The ECFA will have a profound impact on our society,” DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said. “The government has a responsibility to make all relevant information public so that the public better understands and is therefore able to participate in the process.”
The DPP wants the government to hold a national referendum on the ECFA and has pledged to support a referendum initiated by the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the