Public confidence in Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her party reached new highs this month while President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trust level continued to drop, the latest poll released by the Chinese-language Global Views Monthly magazine showed.
The poll, conducted by the Global Views Survey Research Center, put Tsai’s confidence index at 52.3 points on a scale of 0 to 100. The figure represented an increase of 1.1 points from last month and was the highest since May.
Ma’s confidence index, meanwhile, dropped 0.3 points from last month to 47.2 this month. It reached 50.1 in October, the highest since August last year. Meanwhile, the trust level for Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) rose 0.4 points to 45.9.
Overall, public confidence in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was 45.5 this month, up 1.8 points.
Confidence in the DPP increased 2.3 points to 44, an all-time high since the center began the survey in July 2006.
Center director Lian Tai (戴立安) attributed the growing confidence in Tsai and her party to a positive public impression of the DPP, which won Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung in last month’s five special municipality elections. The party also won the popular vote by 5 percentage points, or about 400,000 votes, despite only winning two of the five mayoral seats up for grabs.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Public Mood Index (TPMI) this month edged up 3.2 points to 46.4. Although it remained below 50, it was the highest since the survey was launched in July 2006.
TPMI consists of two indexes: the political confidence index (PCI) and the economic confidence index (ECI).
The PCI was 50.9 this month — up 3.4 points. It was the first time the figure has been above the 50-mark since September last year. The ECI this month was 41.9 — the second highest since the survey was established. The ECI reached the highest in October, with 42.5 points.
Tai said although the figures reflected growing confidence in the economy, public confidence in Ma had yet to recover, he said.
On the political front, the poll showed the index for political optimism increased 7.4 points to 57.9. The political stability index for next month was 53.4 — an increase of 9.2 points — and the level of trust in cross-strait detente for next month grew 5.7 points to 62.4.
On the economic front, the current economic situation index was 34.6 points, a rise of 2.1 points from last month. The economic optimism index advanced 3.9 to 49.2 points.
The poll surveyed 1,008 adults nationwide from Dec. 13 to Dec. 15, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS