President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) and Premier Mao Chih-kuo’s (毛治國) approval ratings remained low at 21.9 percent and 19.3 percent respectively, according to the newest poll by the Taiwan Brain Trust think tank.
In direct correlation to their low popularity, dissatisfaction with Ma and Mao stood at 69.9 percent and 57.4 percent respectively, the survey released yesterday showed.
The widespread public dissatisfaction with the Ma administration was also reflected in their dissatisfaction with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which stood at 71.8 percent.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) garnered a more favorable 42.3 percent satisfaction rating, but 45 percent also said they were dissatisfied with the party’s performance.
The poll found that 54.5 percent of respondents were confident about the DPP’s ability to maintain peaceful development of cross-strait relations should it win the presidential election next year, while 36 percent were unconvinced.
Asked whom they would support in the Jan. 16 presidential election if the candidates remained Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the DPP, Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) of the KMT and James Soong (宋楚瑜) of the People First Party, 46.8 percent of respondents chose Tsai, 17.2 percent picked Hung and 16.7 percent favored Soong.
Support for Soong dropped from 23.6 percent in July, when he ranked second.
Taiwan Brain Trust’s poll center director Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said the party’s decision to send PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生) to attend the Chinese military parade in Beijing on Sept. 3 hurt support for Soong.
The decision also hurt the PFP’s legislator election standings, with the poll showing PFP party votes standing at 5.6 percent, trailing behind the New Power Party’s 6.8 percent.
When asked about their perceptions of former vice president Lien Chan’s (連戰) participation in the military parade, 52.1 percent of respondents said Lien’s participation had a negative effect on cross-strait relations, while 29.2 percent felt it had a positive contribution.
The poll showed that 54. 6 percent of respondents felt that the event in itself had a negative effect on the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, while 20.8 percent felt it had a positive effect.
It also found that 44.4 percent of respondents thought China to be the nation with the most influence on Taiwan’s presidential election, while 39.2 percent and 2.9 percent felt that the US and Japan respectively were the most influential.
If China were to vocally support a particular candidate, 85.6 percent of respondents said they would not support that candidate, while 6.3 percent said they would.
On economic issues, 64.2 percent said economic development is the primary issue in next year’s presidential election, followed by government effectiveness at 12.7 percent. Only 4.5 percent of polled individuals felt that cross-strait policies should be prioritized.
The poll found that 41.1 percent of respondents felt that Tsai was the most qualified to handle Taiwan’s economic problems, with Soong coming in second at 24.5 percent. Hung trailed at 9.8 percent.
The survey, conducted from Saturday last week to Monday, with 1,070 valid samples, has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number