President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) approval rating is 41 percent, while 57 percent approved of her performance in protecting Taiwan’s sovereignty, a Cross-Strait Policy Association survey showed yesterday, the third anniversary her inauguration.
The survey showed that 53.2 percent of respondents disapproved of Tsai’s general performance in the past three years and 5.8 percent were undecided or did not answer, while 36.6 percent disapproved of her protection of national sovereignty, with 6.7 percent undecided or not answering.
Asked about Tsai’s efforts to counter false news reports, 56.6 percent approved, 29.6 percent disapproved and 13.7 percent were undecided or did not answer.
The survey asked people about their opinion of China’s attitude toward Taiwan after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Jan. 2 introduced his “five conditions” in a speech touted by Beijing as the “guiding principles for a new era of China-Taiwan policy.” The survey showed that 59.9 percent disapproved, 15.6 percent approved and 24.5 percent were undecided or did not answer.
“Tsai takes a tough stance on cross-strait relations, but with some moderation to avoid creating more conflict, so she has received a positive evaluation,” National Taiwan Normal University professor Fan Shih-ping (范世平) said.
With Xi promoting the “one county, two systems” formula as a model for unification, Tsai was the only politician who took a firm and persistent stance against it, which earned recognition from Taiwanese, Fan said.
The Hong Kong Security Bureau’s proposed amendments to the territory’s Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which would allow Hong Kong suspects to be extradited to China, has sparked fear among Taiwanese, so more people hope that the government maintains its tough stance to protect the nation’s sovereignty, Fan said.
Disapproval of Tsai’s general performance is mostly due to her internal affairs policies, association deputy secretary-general Lin Ting-hui (林廷輝) said.
While people used the metaphor “accidentally picked up a gun” to describe Tsai’s quick response to Xi’s speech, it shows that her administration “had prepared a gun,” Lin said.
If next year’s presidential election is focused on cross-strait relations, Tsai’s high approval rating on this issue would likely reflect in voting, Lin said.
The telephone survey was conducted on Thursday and Friday last week, collecting data from 1,069 people aged 20 or above. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and margin of error of 3 percentage points.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: A US Air Force KC-135 tanker came less than 1,000 feet of an EVA plane and was warned off by a Taipei air traffic controller, a report said A US aerial refueling aircraft came very close to an EVA Airways jet in the airspace over southern Taiwan, a military aviation news Web site said. A report published by Alert 5 on Tuesday said that automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) data captured by planfinder.net on Wednesday last week showed a US Air Force KC-135 tanker “coming less than 1,000 feet [305m] vertically with EVA Air flight BR225 as both aircraft crossed path south of Taiwan” that morning. The report included an audio recording of a female controller from the Taipei air traffic control center telling the unidentified aircraft that it was
A US aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas,” the US military said yesterday, as tensions between China and Taiwan raise concerns in Washington. US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defense identification zone near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). The US military said the carrier strike group was in the South China Sea, a large part of which
STRATEGIC MISTAKE: Beijing’s deployment of aircraft near Taiwan proves the ‘China threat theory’ that sees it attempting to destabilize the region, an analyst said China on Saturday and yesterday sent a record number of military aircraft into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), in what analysts said was an attempt to flex its military might for US President Joe Biden. Thirteen Chinese warplanes flew into Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ on Saturday and 15 entered yesterday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said. On Saturday, eight Xian H-6K bombers, four Shenyang J-16 fighters and a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, entered the ADIZ, while yesterday there were two Y-8s, two Su-30s, four J-16s, six J-10 fighters and a Y-8 reconnaissance
DISPOSING MYTHS: A new constitution would better reflect reality, as the current one was drafted ‘in and for China,’ without the consent of Taiwanese, advocates said Independence advocates yesterday launched the Taiwan New Constitution Alliance to promote drafting a new, localized constitution. “This is a historic moment for Taiwan. Drafting a new constitution is the most important task Taiwanese face,” veteran independence advocate Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) said at the inaugural event in Taipei. “Although the Democratic Progressive Party is in power, its authority is based on the Republic of China [ROC] Constitution, which has no connection to Taiwan,” said the 95-year-old Koo, a former presidential adviser. “The historic task of drafting a new constitution depends on efforts by all Taiwanese,” Koo said. “A constitution for a sovereign, independent Taiwan