President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) overall approval rating has rallied to 51.6 percent on the back of the passage of pension reform bills, a poll released yesterday by the Taiwan Style Foundation showed.
The poll found that more than 60 percent of respondents were satisfied with Tsai’s pension reform performance, while her approval rating climbed 4.9 percent from a July 3 survey.
However, her disapproval rating was 40.8 percent, and while 41.4 percent of those polled said they were satisfied with her overall performance — an 8 percentage-point increase from the July 3 poll — 54.3 percent said they were dissatisfied.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The approval rating of Premier Lin Chuan (林全) has also risen, from 28.7 percent on July 3 to 34.7 percent, but his disapproval rating remains high at 57.7 percent, the poll showed.
The Act Governing the Retirement and Pensions of Public-School Teachers and Employees (公立學校教職員退休撫卹條例) passed on June 27 reduced the pension benefits of public-sector employees.
Asked if they were satisfied with the reform, 62.8 percent of respondents said they were, while 31.1 percent said they were not.
The reform would have a positive effect on the nation’s development, 68.1 percent of respondents said, but 21.6 percent said it would have a negative effect.
While 61.9 percent of those polled said pension reform was a major achievement for Tsai, 30.6 percent said it was not.
The poll showed bipartisan support for the act across age groups and regions, suggesting the reform has hit its mark, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said.
“Tsai’s administration has to understand that public support would grow if it does the right thing and explains policies well. However, it would lose both [supporters and opponents of the pension reform] if it makes compromises to curry favor,” Wang said.
Regarding the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, 61.5 percent of respondents said it would benefit the nation, while 27.3 percent said it would not.
While 59.3 percent of respondents supported the government’s introduction of the program, 31.1 percent opposed it.
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) obstruction of Lin’s budget report for the program was approved by 26.8 percent of respondents, but disapproved by 60 percent.
The obstruction of legislative proceedings would negatively impact the KMT according to 50.4 percent of the respondents, while 30.2 percent said it would have a positive effect.
On the question of who should run Taipei, 59.5 percent of respondents said the DPP should field its own candidate instead of again backing independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), while 20.7 percent opposed the idea.
That 72.1 percent of the DPP-inclined respondents wanted the party to pitch its own candidate suggests Ko’s support base is abandoning him, DPP Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said.
The poll was conducted on Sunday and Monday, collected 1,069 valid samples and has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS