More than 76 percent of respondents to a survey released yesterday said that social order has been poor over the past six months, while more than 27 percent said that it will get even worse over the next six months.
The survey, conducted by the National Policy Foundation, an opposition KMT think tank, polled 1,084 people from Dec. 16-20 with a margin of error of 3 percent.
Reporting on the poll results, Yao Kao-chiao (姚高橋), former head of National Policy Administration, also said that more than 55 percent of the respondents are not satisfied with the government's attempts to improve social order in the past six months, but some 46 percent nevertheless have great expectations in the government to improve social order.
The poll found that the top five things that the respondents believe will most seriously affect social order are robbery (17 percent), joyriding (12 percent), robbery committed by motorcyclists (11 percent), abduction for ransom (9 percent) and murder (6 percent).
Twenty-nine percent of the respondents also believe that the economic downturn has contributed to the worsening social order, while 20 percent blame political instability, 15 percent blame high unemployment, 11 percent blame education failure and 6 percent blame a lack of an entrenched law-abiding concept.
On how to improve social order, 27 percent of those polled suggested improving the economic situation, 24 percent suggested lowering unemployment, 22 percent suggested stabilizing the political situation and 20 percent suggested stiffer punishments.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious