An opinion poll released yesterday showed that former premier Frank Hsieh’s (謝長廷) initiative of “two constitutions, different interpretations (憲法各表)” has stronger support than the so-called “1992 consensus” advocated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Beijing.
While 57.9 percent of the respondents said they supported Hsieh’s proposal, 45.4 percent of those polled supported the “1992 consensus,” Harbor Cities Exchange Foundation executive director Chan Chao-tsung (詹昭聰) said at a press conference in Taipei.
Hsieh’s proposal has bipartisan support, winning recognition from 60.9 percent of those who identified as pan-green supporters and 70.9 percent of pan-blue supporters.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“The results show that [Hsieh’s initiative] has the potential to become the consensus of the Taiwanese people,” said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), who is close to Hsieh, adding that the initiative could become “version 2.0 of Taiwan’s China policy.”
The poll found that 61 percent of respondents supported Hsieh’s proposal becoming the DPP’s formal China policy, including 84.9 percent of pan-green supporters.
Chao said “two constitutions, different interpretations” was favored over the 1992 consensus, which was relatively unpopular among the 20 to 39 age group and in the south, because of its pragmatism and was seen as being better than the DPP’s past proposal of “name rectification and new constitution,” which many dubbed as provocative.
The poll, conducted between Thursday last week and Sunday, collected 1,071 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3.01 percentage points.
Decreasing support rates for the 1992 consensus showed the public’s disappointment with and suspicion of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) cross-strait policies, National Sun Yat-sen University professor Lin Wen-cheng (林文程) said.
“Ma should take note of his disconnection from mainstream public opinion,” Lin said.
Responding to the survey, Hsieh said at a separate setting yesterday that he was glad the initiative has won majority support.
“I’ve been criticized a lot over the initiative, but the results show that it has the support of 61 percent of Taiwanese, with Washington viewing it acceptable and Beijing seeing it as tolerable,” Hsieh said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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