Public trust in President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) improved slightly this month, while trust in Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her party dropped, a poll by the Chinese-language Global Views magazine showed yesterday.
The poll, conducted by the Global Views Survey Research Center, put trust in Ma at 45.2 on a scale of 100, up 1.3 points from last month. However, this still marks a dramatic fall from grace as trust in Ma was 57.5 in June 2008, one month into his presidency, and 52.6 on his one year anniversary in May last year. The level of trust in former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was 32.2 when he left office.
Wu’s trust level stood at 47.7 points, an increase of 0.8 points over last month. That of the KMT was 42.4, up 0.2 points from last month.
Trust in Tsai fell 2.2 points to 51, still higher than Ma’s 45.2. The level of trust in the DPP also fell 0.7 points to 41.3, just 1.1 points behind the KMT.
The pollster attributed Tsai’s declines to her poor showing against Ma in the recent debate on the planned economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing and the apparent hesitation she showed before deciding to run for Sinbei City mayor.
The public mood index (TPMI) this month was 43.0 points, up 0.5 from last month.
The TPMI consists of two indexes: the political confidence index (PCI) and the economic confidence index (ECI). The PCI was 47.2 this month, while the ECI was 38.8.
These figures represented increases of 0.6 and 0.5 points over the previous month.
On the political front, respondents’ confidence in the Ma administration was 45.1 points, up 0.8 point from the previous month.
The index for political optimism grew 0.5 point to 50.5. Political stability for next month grew 1.4 points to 41.8 and the level of trust in cross-strait detente next month fell 0.4 point to 59.1.
On the economic front, the current economic situation index was 31.8 points, an increase of 1.8 points from last month.
The economic optimism index decreased by 0.8 point to 45.9 points, the lowest this year.
The poll surveyed 1,010 adults around the nation between April 16 and May 13.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS