Many Taiwanese were disappointed with the way the government handled Taiwan's participation in this year's APEC meetings, according to a poll released by the Gallup organization yesterday.
Nearly half of respondents to the survey said they were dissatisfied with the government's overall handling of the APEC meetings that concluded in Shanghai on Oct. 21. The survey questioned 1,120 adults aged 20 and older through telephone inquiries.
Thirty percent of respondents said they were satisfied, while the remainder either said they did not have an opinion or declined to answer the question.
Taiwan was absent from the APEC summit after China refused to provide an invitation to former vice president Li Yuan-tzu (李元簇), who was handpicked by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to attend the event on his behalf.
The poll also showed 73.6 percent of respondents said they felt the DPP lacked the necessary expertise in handling international affairs, while 13.3 percent said the opposite.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said it's very likely that Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan's (
In a flare-up at a news conference during the APEC ministerial meeting on Oct. 18, Tang cut short a speech by Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義). Tang said it would be "a waste of time" to allow Lin to speak.
Tang was then visibly irritated by a question from a Taiwanese journalist about the dispute that had erupted over Taiwan's representation at the APEC summit.
When survey respondents were asked if they would back the "one country, two systems" model after the APEC fiasco, 28 percent said yes while 54.9 percent said no.
The survey also showed political parties would see little benefit in the year-end elections by stirring up discussions on the APEC fiasco.
While 25.4 percent of respondents said the DPP would likely benefit from the APEC episode, 26.5 percent said the KMT would be the likely beneficiary, while roughly 17 percent said the People First Party is likely to gain.
The survey's results, analysts said, indicate that no political party has emerged a winner in the meeting's wake.
"All political parties have been losers in this game as the public has shown aversion to the ways both the ruling party and the opposition parties tackled the issue," said Emile Sheng (盛治仁), a political science analyst at Soochow University.
The DPP-led government has uttered disparate views on the issue, with few admitting pitfalls within the internal decision-making process, with the exception being outspoken Vice President Annette Lu (
The opposition parties, Sheng said, did nothing constructive but still attacked the DPP government, claiming the way the DPP handled the issue stemmed from its ambition to win the year-end elections. But about 60 percent of respondents said they disagreed with this view.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS