A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opinion poll showed more than 70 percent of respondents thought Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) had acted inappropriately when he chided protesting Taiwanese students in Geneva.
Yeh lost his cool when the protesters asked him how Taiwan was invited to be an observer at this year's World Health Assembly (WHA.)
The survey, which questioned 1,191 people aged 20 and above, showed that 71.5 percent — including 60 percent of pan-blue supporters in the poll — also felt it was inappropriate for Yeh to shout back at the students, said Chen Chun-lin (陳俊麟), director of the DPP's poll center.
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
The poll also showed that 43.5 percent of respondents said the government should have used “Taiwan” as its designation at the WHA. Only 15.1 percent approved of the title “Chinese Taipei.”
Chen said the poll also showed that more than 70 percent of the public could not accept the WHO listing Taiwan as a “province of China” on its official Web site, and roughly the same percentage said Taiwan's participation in international organizations should not be contingent on approval by Beijing.
Yeh's speech and conduct were ill-befitting of a ranking government official and he should apologize for his behavior, DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.
Cheng added that the health minister should step down for failing to stand up for Taiwan's sovereignty by avoiding the topic in an international setting.
The DPP's anti-government rally last weekend also drew a positive response in the survey.
Chen said 72.4 percent of those interviewed by telephone in the last two days said the rally was “disciplined and responsible” and that 66 percent of swing voters in both pan-blue and pan-green camps had a positive impression of the rally.
The survey suggested that 2.9 percent of the population participated in the rally, which translates into more than half a million people out of the 17.5 million citizens eligible to vote in Taiwan.
The attendance far surpassed the estimate of 40,000 to 80,000 provided by Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), Chen said.
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