Most people favor resolving the ongoing dispute between the student activists occupying the legislative floor and the government over the cross-strait service trade agreement through a national referendum, a public opinion poll showed yesterday.
The poll, conducted by Taiwan Indicator Survey Research (TISR), showed that 74.2 percent of respondents backed holding a referendum to resolve the issue, 16.9 percent were against the idea and 8.9 percent did not give an answer.
Asked about the legislative deadlock over the pact, 35.4 percent of the 1,010 respondents agreed that the agreement should be sent back to the joint legislative committee for a line-by-line review, 23.5 percent called for interparty negotiations, 16.9 percent said the Executive Yuan should withdraw the proposed agreement and 15.4 percent gave no answer, according to the survey, which was conducted from Monday to Wednesday.
The escalating protests have dealt a blow to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), especially after the bloody crackdown on students on Sunday. Only 16.9 percent of respondents said Ma was trustworthy, while 69.4 percent said they did not trust the president, the poll showed. Both numbers were the worst for Ma since he took office in May 2008.
Meanwhile, Jiang’s disapproval rating of 65.5 percent was the highest in his 13 months in office.
Overall, most respondents supported the student movement, with 63 percent saying that the students, who have been occupying the Legislative Yuan since March 18, were “upholding the nation’s democratic values,” while 19.6 percent said they have jeopardized the democratic system.
More than half, or 54.9 percent, of respondents said the protest erupted because of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ violation of democratic principles.
Despite the high support for the students, 58.7 percent of respondents did not back the movement’s call for a national strike by students and workers. Only 29.1 percent supported the call.
Asked whether their view toward the agreement has changed because of the student protest, 35.2 percent said yes — 26.8 percent of whom said they switched from supporting the deal to opposing it.
Among the 38 percent who said their position was unchanged, 16.9 percent supported the pact, while 21.1 percent opposed it.
BREAKING RECORDS: Kuo Hsing-chun’s snatch, clean and jerk, and combined lifts were all Olympic records, although well off her combined world record Taiwanese weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun (郭婞淳) yesterday completed her elusive quest for Olympic gold, clinching Taiwan’s first win at the Tokyo Games as she set Olympic records in the women’s under-59kg weight class. Kuo, who has not lost a major competition in her weight class since the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she was hampered by injury and finished third, finally chased down the gold medal that had long remained just out of her grasp. The 27-year-old finished with a combined lift of 236kg — 103kg in the snatch and 133kg in the clean and jerk — 21kg more
A TAIWAN FIRST: The duo are the first badminton players from Taiwan to climb an Olympic podium, and Tai Tzu-ying has a shot at doing the same today Taiwanese badminton duo Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) yesterday won the nation’s first Olympic gold medal in the sport when they prevailed over a third-seeded Chinese pair in the final of the men’s doubles at the Tokyo Olympics. Lee and Wang, both first-time Olympians, defeated Liu Yuchen (劉雨辰) and Li Junhui (李俊慧) 21-18, 21-12 in a 34-minute final at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza. As of yesterday, Taiwan had bagged seven medals in Tokyo — two golds, two silvers and three bronzes — topping its previous best of five medals in 2000 and 2004. Taiwan moved to No. 17 in the
NO ‘ONE CHINA’ LIE: The appropriations act passed the US House of Representatives with a vote of 217-212, but still needs Senate approval and the president’s signature The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a foreign assistance spending bill with an amendment forbidding that funds be used to create, procure or display maps depicting Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China. The amendment was introduced by five Republican representatives — Tom Tiffany, Steve Chabot, Scott Perry, Kat Cammack and Mike Gallagher — and passed unanimously in a bundle with a dozen other amendments. “This is a common sense measure,” Tiffany said, speaking on the House floor on Wednesday. “As we all know, Taiwan has never been part of communist China. The Taiwanese people elect their
THE HOME TEAM: DPP Legislator Kao Chia-yu said she canceled her booking for an AstraZeneca shot as soon as she heard that the Medigen vaccine was an option President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that she would get inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Taiwan-based Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗). Tsai wrote on Facebook that she had registered for her first vaccine dose using the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system, which allows people to indicate their preferred vaccine brand and to make an appointment when the shot becomes available. Tsai said that she opted for the Medigen vaccine — one of three now available on the system, along with the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines — even though Medigen has yet to deliver any doses or provide a
RSS