A majority of respondents in a public opinion poll released yesterday said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should not expel Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and that the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division (SID) should be abolished following its conduct in an influence-peddling case involving Wang and other officials.
The survey, conducted by Taiwan Thinktank, found that 53.5 percent of respondents thought the division was a corrupt institution, 51.1 percent of those polled said it should be scrapped and 72.6 percent said that the SID had jeopardized the judiciary’s integrity with its investigation into Wang’s alleged influence peddling on behalf of Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
Almost half, or 49.9 percent, of those polled said they believed that Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) was guilty of leaking intelligence because he delivered a private report about the probe to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) before it was publicly announced, while 59 percent said Huang was incompetent.
Among the pan-blue supporters questioned, 41.7 percent said Huang had leaked intelligence while 25.7 percent disagreed and 32.6 percent declined to comment.
The survey found that respondents seemed to be more discontent with Ma’s alleged political motivations in the case, which many say is a political persecution of Wang, than with the SID’s investigation.
In addition, 63 percent of those polled said that Ma had employed a “double standard” by not condemning Huang’s behavior, while former Bureau of Investigation chief Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂) was sentenced to jail for concealing government documents and leaking confidential information to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and to Ker.
Following revelations that the division wiretapped Wang’s phone during the probe, 70.3 percent of the respondents said Ma has betrayed his pledge to eliminate illegal wiretapping and political surveillance and 50.7 percent agreed that Ma was trying to remove Wang so he could control the Legislative Yuan.
Nearly half, or 45.7 percent, of the survey participants expressed concerns about the judiciary’s wiretapping of civilians.
The poll found that Ma’s approval rating of 17.1 percent was at its lowest level since the think tank began conducting monthly tracking polls in March last year, while his disapproval rating remained high at 71.4 percent.
The figures paled in comparison with Wang’s, with the legislative speaker enjoying an approval rating of 60.5 percent and a disapproval rating of 21.8 percent.
The survey, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, collected 814 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS