President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) approval ratings fell significantly this month in the wake of the government’s handling of the distribution of relief funds and stimulus coupons to people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a poll released yesterday by the New Power Party (NPP) showed.
The poll showed that 68 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Tsai’s performance, down 8.9 percentage points from last month, while 21 percent said they disapproved of her performance.
Her approval among respondents aged 20 to 29 fell 14.7 percentage points, the largest decrease when compared with other age groups.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Su’s approval rating slid 7.9 percentage points to 65 percent, and 25 percent said they were dissatisfied with his performance.
Similarly, his approval rate fell the most among respondents aged 20 to 29, dropping 22 percentage points, the poll showed.
NPP Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said that the decline was normal as the Tsai administration had been in its “honeymoon” phase after she was re-elected in January.
The administration needs to be careful that its approval does not fall too quickly, Hsu said, adding that the decline might be connected with how the administration mishandled the distribution of relief funds and stimulus coupons.
“It appears that people were critical of the chaos when the Tsai administration implemented the policy of distributing financial relief funds to people and businesses affected by the COVID-19 outbreak,” National Taiwan Normal University political science professor Fan Shih-ping (范世平) said.
The administration’s ratings reached their peak when it succeeded in containing the spread of COVID-19, but it began to slide after its stimulus package, Fan said.
The “honeymoon” is over, Fan added.
The decline in approval among younger respondents was worrisome, and might be indicative of how they would vote in the recall election of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Saturday, Fan said.
The poll showed that 47.9 percent of respondents said they approved of how the government distributed the financial relief funds, whereas 43.5 percent said they disapproved.
About 64 percent of respondents said they agreed with the rules governing the distribution of stimulus coupons, and 62.9 percent said they were confident in the government’s ability to implement the stimulus package, the poll shows.
When asked to rate how well Tsai had delivered on her promises to tackle high housing prices, high costs of living, long working hours and low wages, 55.8 percent said they disapproved of her performance.
About 42 percent said that they were satisfied with her judicial reform efforts, but 46 percent said they were dissatisfied.
Although 48.4 percent said they were satisfied with how the government handled labor rights issues, 45 percent said they were dissatisfied.
Nearly 70 percent said that the proportion of women in the Cabinet should increase, the poll showed.
About 60 percent of respondents said they supported a draft refugee act and an amendment to the Act Governing Relations With Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例) to aid Hong Kongers after Beijing passed national security legislation for the territory.
The poll also found that 48.6 percent of respondents said it would be more appropriate to use “Taiwan” to refer to the nation, and 60 percent said that the Constitution should be amended.
The survey was conducted by Trend Survey and Research Co on May 25 and 26 through telephone interviews of randomly selected people aged 20 or older. It collected 811 valid samples, and has a margin of error of 3.44 percentage points.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS