A public opinion poll published yesterday found that the majority of respondents were concerned that Taiwan’s fiscal problems could lead the nation to face an economic crisis similar to Greece’s and felt pessimistic about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pension reforms.
Asked if they were concerned that the nation’s debt crisis could turn it into another Greece, 70.7 percent of the respondents said yes, a survey conducted by the Taiwan Thinktank from Wednesday to Friday showed.
In addition, 72.9 percent of those polled said the holding of a national affairs conference, as proposed by the opposition parties, was necessary to address the gravity of the fiscal issues.
Photo: CNA
Only 24.6 percent of the respondents said they were not worried about possible “Hellenization,” said Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), convener of the think tank’s survey team, at a press conference yesterday.
The survey also found that 67.6 percent of those questioned had no confidence in Ma’s pledge to submit a complete plan on pension reform in January that would improve the nation’s finances, compared with 18.2 percent who said they felt confident about the promise.
The average age of retirement among the survey’s participants was 58.5 years and the average expected monthly pension for an affordable retirement life was NT$28,602.
Ma’s disapproval rating was at its lowest — 70.5 percent — since the thinktank began to conduct the monthly surveys in March, the poll showed, despite his approval rating of 21.1 percent being slightly up from last month’s 19.3 percent.
The poll also showed that most people did not oppose Ma’s “bumbler” tag, given by UK-based weekly magazine The Economist recently and which led to much controversy.
Asked about the article and the term “bumbler” — whose translation was the subject of debate in local media — 57.1 of the respondents said it meant Ma was “indecisive,” 18.3 percent said it mean the president was “stupid” and 7.2 percent said it meant both.
Most of those polled — 74.9 percent — did agree on one thing: The report has seriously damaged Taiwan’s international image.
On the elections in special municipalities, cities and counties in 2014, the poll found that 33.9 percent of respondents supported the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), while 22.6 percent were for the Chinese Nationalist Party and 43.5 percent were undecided.
The DPP’s increased exchanges with Beijing were approved by 57.1 percent of survey participants, while 23.4 percent disapproved.
While most of those surveyed agreed with the party’s drive to better understand China and 67.2 percent said they were aware of the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th Party Congress, the poll found that 63 percent either did not know who Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平) was, or could not name his position.
The poll collected 1,072 samples and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS