Premier William Lai’s (賴清德) high approval rating of nearly 70 percent is believed to have helped boost President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) rating toward 50 percent, while more than half of Taiwanese support a proposal to amend the Constitution, a poll released yesterday by the Taiwan Style Foundation showed.
Lai, who assumed the post on Sept. 8, has garnered the approval of 68.8 percent of respondents, while 23 percent expressed dissatisfaction.
Regarding Lai’s ability to revive the economy, 63.5 percent said they are confident, compared with 30.2 percent who said they were not, while 65.2 percent think his executive ability is good, compared with 21 percent who do not agree.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The premier is heeding public opinion, according to 60.2 percent of respondents, while 30.3 percent said he is not.
Tsai’s approval rating stands at 49.7 percent, while her disapproval rating is at 45.1 percent. Just over half of respondents at 54.8 percent said they support Tsai, while 40.4 percent said they do not.
Tsai’s satisfaction rating had fallen to a record low of 18.4 percent in a poll released in May by Taiwan Democracy Watch ahead of the first anniversary of her presidency.
“In terms of polling performance, the [administration] has weathered an unstable period after Lai’s inauguration,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) said.
The poll suggests that controversies surrounding the administration’s reform policies have ended, while efficiently implementing the policies is to be the next challenge, foundation board director Wang Zhin-sheng (王智盛) said.
When asked about a proposal by Tsai and the DPP to amend the Constitution, 56 percent of respondents said they approve, while 22.1 percent disapproved.
Half of the respondents opposed lowering the minimum voting age from 20 to 18, while 46.8 percent approved of the potential constitutional amendment.
Human rights protection should be codified into the Constitution, 69.8 percent of the respondents said, but 17.3 percent said it is not necessary.
Seventy-two percent believe that legislative elections should be revised to prevent unequal representation, while 17.8 percent said the revision is not necessary.
While 80.9 percent of respondents are in favor of a proposal put forth by Tsai in her Double Ten National Day address to hold a political party leaders’ meeting, 13.6 percent disapproved.
Regarding cross-strait policy, two-thirds of respondents said they support Tsai’s statement that the nation would continue to show goodwill and stay true to its promises without returning to a confrontational relationship or succumbing to Beijing’s pressure, while 24.9 percent said they disapproved.
The poll conducted on Thursday and Friday collected 1,072 valid samples and has a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS