President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) cross-strait policy has an approval rate of about 45 percent, higher than those of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), according to a survey released yesterday.
A poll conducted by the Cross-Strait Policy Association gave respondents a description of Tsai’s, Wu’s and Ko’s cross-strait narratives before asking whose policy they prefer.
According to the results, 44.8 percent of the respondents said they approve of Tsai’s policy the most, while 28 percent favored Ko’s and 18.3 percent preferred Wu’s.
Photo: Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Tsai’s cross-strait policy aims at maintaining the “status quo” and her administration would not change its position, promises and goodwill toward China while not succumbing to pressure or returning to confrontation.
Wu’s is the so-called “1992 consensus,” stressing the “one China” principle and the “different interpretations” framework.
Ko frames the cross-strait relations as “a family” and a “community of common destiny,” according to the description.
The survey found that 60.3 percent of respondents said Tsai’s China policy is about keeping the “status quo” and 33.1 percent said it has a pro-independence bent.
Wu’s cross-strait policy is also aimed at keeping the “status quo,” 47.9 percent of respondents said, while 37 percent said it leans toward unification.
While 55.7 percent said Ko’s narrative is aimed at keeping the “status quo,” 27.3 percent said it has a pro-unification bent.
Tsai’s China policy is the policy most capable of protecting Taiwan’s sovereignty and national interests compared with the policies of the others, according to 43.2 percent of the respondents, while 23.9 percent said Wu’s policy is the most capable and 20.8 percent favored Ko’s.
Tsai is the most capable of the three in resisting Beijing’s pressure when conducting cross-strait relations, 36.7 percent of respondents said, while 26.3 percent said it is Wu and 22.1 percent chose Ko.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said the majority has approved of Tsai’s policy of maintaining the “status quo,” while Ko’s “family” motif is more popular than the “1992 consensus,” suggesting narratives derived from the “one China” principle have lost their effect.
Wu was ranked above Ko in terms of his ability to protect Taiwan’s interests, suggesting pan-green camp voters have come to understand Ko’s political stance as “centrist with a pro-unification bent,” Chao said.
“Ko has turned from dark-green to light-red,” National Taiwan Normal University professor Fan Shih-ping (范世平) said of Ko’s perceived political shift from a pro-localization position to a Beijing-friendly stance.
“Due to the waning [effect] of the Sunflower movement and the KMT-dominant electoral structure of Taipei, Ko, who has been criticizing the DPP, can be understood as trying to court deep-blue and light-blue voters,” Fan said.
“It appears that Ko is successful,” he added.
According to the poll, 72.6 percent said the Chinese government has been unfriendly toward Taiwan since the DPP administration took office in May last year, while 22.2 percent said it has been friendly.
Tsai should continue to lead the nation, 50.2 percent of respondents said, while 44.6 percent said she should not.
According to the survey, 50.3 percent said they were dissatisfied with Tsai’s performance, while 45.6 percent said they were satisfied.
The results suggest that Tsai’s approval rating and satisfaction rate have rallied, with her administration being given the mandate to continue to handle cross-strait relations, Chao said.
The survey, conducted between Wednesday and Thursday, collected 1,072 valid samples and has a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and Beijing that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means. Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said in 2006 that he had made up the term in 2000.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS