Wed, Jan 27, 2021 page2

• Majority against US meat with ractopamine: survey

  DIPLOMACY: Of the polls’ respondents, 67% said they disagreed that the Taiwan-China relationship was more important than Taiwan’s relations with other nations

  • By Yang Chun-hui and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  The majority of people oppose imports of US meat containing ractopamine, but remain optimistic about Taiwan-US relations, survey results released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation found.

  Foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) designed the questions, and commissioned Focus Survey Research to conduct the survey by telephone.

  Respondents were asked about a variety of major issues, which also included Taiwan-China relations, and public approval of the president and premier.

  

  Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation chairman Michael You discusses a survey on major issues at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

  Of the respondents, 66.3 percent opposed imports of meat products containing ractopamine, while 28.2 percent approved, the foundation said.

  However, the survey found that 60 percent of Democratic Progressive Party supporters approved of the imports, while 32 percent did not.

  Among Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters, only 2.4 percent approved of the imports, and 97 percent opposed them.

  Among the Taiwan People’s Party supporters who were surveyed, 15 percent approved of the imports and 85 percent disapproved, while 12 percent of New Power Party supporters approved and 79 percent disapproved.

  Among those who had no political affiliation, 19 percent of respondents approved of the imports, while 74 percent opposed them.

  The survey also found that 54.3 percent of respondents supported a referendum drive initiated by KMT lawmakers to reinstitute a ban on meat products containing ractopamine, while 36.1 percent did not.

  Nearly all of the respondents aged 65 or under were in support of the referendum, while half of those above the age of 65 backed it, the foundation said.

  Of the respondents, 51.3 percent said that they approved of how President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was dealing with major issues, while 37.4 percent said that they did not.

  Regarding Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) overall performance, 52.3 percent said that they were happy with it, while 41.7 percent were dissatisfied.

  Sixty-five percent of respondents said that they were not concerned that the relationship between Taiwan and the US would regress following the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, while 28 percent said they had such concerns.

  On the issue of whether authorities should strive for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN, 79 percent said that they should, while 15 percent said they should not.

  Meanwhile, 67 percent of the respondents said they disagreed that the Taiwan-China relationship was more important than Taiwan’s relations with other countries, while 26 percent said that it was.

  Of the 67 percent, 37 percent said that they “strongly disagreed,” while of the 26 percent, 12 percent “strongly agreed.”

  Half of respondents supported formal Taiwanese independence, while 14 percent said that they hoped Taiwan would eventually be unified with China, and 25 percent hoped that the “status quo” would be maintained.

  The survey, conducted on Monday and Tuesday last week, collected 1,081 valid questionnaires and had a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.

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