A survey released yesterday found 52.7 percent of respondents said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) failed to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore on Saturday last week.
The poll, conducted by Taiwan Indicator Survey Research, also found that 56.2 percent of respondents said that Ma’s statement in the meeting does not represent their views, with only 22.2 percent saying that Ma represented their views.
The poll showed that almost half of the respondents — 49.6 percent — agreed that the Ma-Xi meeting benefited China, while only 20 percent said they believed the meeting benefited Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Only 28.6 percent of the poll’s respondents agreed with the statement that “both sides across the Strait belong to one China,” which Xi declared in the meeting’s closed-door discussion session, while 58.4 percent disagreed, the poll showed.
Although Ma repeatedly emphasized that he had “said all that should be said” in the meeting and that he had not only addressed the “one China, with each side having its own interpretation” (一中各表) formula, but had also reiterated the Republic of China’s sovereignty, only 30.2 percent believe that Ma had defended national sovereignty and dignity, the poll said.
The poll also showed that 42 percent of respondents said that Ma is “pro-unification,” the highest percentage on record since July 2011.
However, the poll also showed that 73 percent of respondents support regular meetings between Taiwan and China’s leaders, while only 14.5 percent said they oppose such meetings.
Meanwhile, the poll found Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) continued to pull further ahead of her opponents with 46.2 percent support.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) has 20.4 percent support, while People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) trailed at 10.4 percent, the poll said.
The survey collected 1,004 valid samples from Sunday through Tuesday and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
RSS