On the eve of the final year of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) second four-year term today, Ma’s disapproval rating stood at nearly 70 percent or higher in various surveys, while his approval rating was as low as less than 20 percent.
About 68.4 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Ma’s performance as president, against 21.3 percent who said they were satisfied, in a telephone-based poll conducted on Sunday, Taiwan Thinktank said yesterday.
A cross-analysis of differences in political party affiliation found that among respondents who identified themselves as supporters of the pan-blue camp, 50.5 percent said they found Ma’s governance dissatisfactory, the poll showed.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The survey found 49.1 percent of respondents doubted the image Ma has sought to establish as a clean politician because they said they believed there might have been some irregularities involving Ma in his handling of the Taipei Dome project when he was Taipei mayor, while 29.2 percent believed he was clean.
The president has repeatedly stressed that only by respecting the so-called “1992 consensus” — an alleged agreement between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that there is “one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what ‘one China’” means” — can the “status quo” be maintained, but the survey found that a majority of people did not agree.
According to the survey, 68.7 percent of the public said they support maintaining the “status quo,” while only 15.4 percent said they support the “1992 consensus.”
KMT Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) description of cross-strait relations as “both sides belonging to one China,” to which Ma has given his endorsement, was supported by only 13 percent of respondents, while 77.4 percent said Taiwan and China are both sovereign states, independent of each other and not subordinate to the other, the survey found.
About 50.2 percent of respondents said the government should place more consideration on the impact of cross-strait exchanges and negotiations on national security, while 38.1 percent said economic benefits should be the main concern, the poll showed.
On a scale of zero to 10, with zero indicating “not at all” and 10 signifying “extremely,” the extent to which respondents perceived Taiwan as depending on China to maintain its economic growth stood at 6.1. Moreover, 62.2 percent of respondents said Taiwan should deepen its economic ties with countries other than China.
A survey that the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) conducted from Saturday to Monday found that 14.52 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Ma’s performance over the past seven years, against 64.3 percent who thought the opposite.
Similar results were found in a survey released by the TVBS poll center yesterday showing Ma’s approval rating at 16 percent and disapproval rating at 67 percent.
In another poll, conducted by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research, 15.4 percent expressed satisfaction with Ma, while 75.7 percent were dissatisfied.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
BUSY DAY: The same day the USS ‘Barry’ passed through the Strait, Taiwan was ending its Han Kuang military exercises, while China said it conducted an exercise near Taiwan A US Navy ship on Friday sailed through the Taiwan Strait, marking the ninth time a US military vessel has transited the Strait since US President Joe Biden took office in January. The USS Barry, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, conducted a “routine” transit through the Strait, the US Navy said in a statement, adding that the journey through international waters was conducted “in accordance with international law.” “The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the US Navy said. “The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows.” The Ministry
FRUIT SPAT: The COA said China had not given evidence for halting wax and custard apple imports, adding that it would spend NT$1bn on promoting sales of the fruit Taipei threatened to take China to the WTO yesterday after Beijing said it would suspend wax apple and custard apple imports from Taiwan due to pest concerns. China’s customs administration earlier yesterday said it had repeatedly found pests called Planococcus minor, a type of mealybug, on wax and custard apples from Taiwan. It asked its Guangdong branch and all affiliated offices to stop clearing the products from today. China had acted unilaterally, without providing scientific evidence, Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) told a news conference, criticizing the announcement’s timing, as it came during the Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated in Taiwan
ON ALERT: A woman who tested positive for COVID-19 while abroad last year tested negative twice in Taiwan before showing a positive result on Sunday, the center said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported two locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, four imported cases and no deaths. The CECC meanwhile warned nearly 500 people to monitor their health after a woman tested postive. The center also reported that a previous local case — a female worker at Taoyuan International Airport Services (桃園航勤), who had the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 — likely contracted the disease from the same source as a previous imported case from Turkey. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the two local cases were reported in Taipei, and are a
CLOSED DOORS? The new US rules, which are to be implemented in November, have sparked concern in Taiwan, given its low fully vaccinated coverage rate The US plans to allow entry to most foreign air travelers as long as they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — while adding a testing requirement for unvaccinated Americans and barring entry for foreigners who have not received shots. The measures announced on Monday by the White House mark the most sweeping change to US travel policies in months, and widen the gap in rules between vaccinated people — who would see restrictions relaxed — and unvaccinated people. The new rules would replace existing bans on foreigners’ travel to the US from certain regions, including Europe. While the move would open the
RSS