Most people favor resolving the ongoing dispute between the student activists occupying the legislative floor and the government over the cross-strait service trade agreement through a national referendum, a public opinion poll showed yesterday.
The poll, conducted by Taiwan Indicator Survey Research (TISR), showed that 74.2 percent of respondents backed holding a referendum to resolve the issue, 16.9 percent were against the idea and 8.9 percent did not give an answer.
Asked about the legislative deadlock over the pact, 35.4 percent of the 1,010 respondents agreed that the agreement should be sent back to the joint legislative committee for a line-by-line review, 23.5 percent called for interparty negotiations, 16.9 percent said the Executive Yuan should withdraw the proposed agreement and 15.4 percent gave no answer, according to the survey, which was conducted from Monday to Wednesday.
The escalating protests have dealt a blow to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), especially after the bloody crackdown on students on Sunday. Only 16.9 percent of respondents said Ma was trustworthy, while 69.4 percent said they did not trust the president, the poll showed. Both numbers were the worst for Ma since he took office in May 2008.
Meanwhile, Jiang’s disapproval rating of 65.5 percent was the highest in his 13 months in office.
Overall, most respondents supported the student movement, with 63 percent saying that the students, who have been occupying the Legislative Yuan since March 18, were “upholding the nation’s democratic values,” while 19.6 percent said they have jeopardized the democratic system.
More than half, or 54.9 percent, of respondents said the protest erupted because of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ violation of democratic principles.
Despite the high support for the students, 58.7 percent of respondents did not back the movement’s call for a national strike by students and workers. Only 29.1 percent supported the call.
Asked whether their view toward the agreement has changed because of the student protest, 35.2 percent said yes — 26.8 percent of whom said they switched from supporting the deal to opposing it.
Among the 38 percent who said their position was unchanged, 16.9 percent supported the pact, while 21.1 percent opposed it.
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS