Nearly two-thirds, or 63.8 percent, of Taiwanese are dissatisfied with the government’s policy of allowing imports of pork containing traces of ractopamine, a poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed.
The survey found that 27.6 percent of respondents were satisfied with the policy.
Asked if they would support overturning the policy in a referendum, 62.3 percent of respondents said “yes,” while 30.8 percent said “no,” the foundation said.
According to the poll, 62.4 percent said they would likely vote in a referendum over the matter, while 33.4 percent said they would not.
A referendum question spearheaded by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) would ask voters on Aug. 28 if they agree that the government should completely ban imports of meat, offal and related products from pigs fed ractopamine, a leanness-enhancing additive.
Another referendum that might take place on the same day proposes moving a planned liquefied natural gas terminal from the coast of Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) to protect algal reefs in the area. The signature drive for the referendum is being led by Rescue Datan’s Algal Reefs Alliance convener Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政).
According to the poll, 53.8 percent of respondents said they would like to see an algal reef referendum pass, while 24.9 percent said they would not.
Of the respondents, 51.4 percent said they would vote in such a referendum, while 34.5 percent said they would not.
The two referendums have an overlapping supporter base and those voting for one would likely vote for the other as well, the foundation said.
The poll also asked respondents about the government’s COVID-19 vaccine policies, with 62 percent saying they were satisfied with the policies and 30.4 percent saying they were not.
According to the poll, 74.4 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the vaccine purchase program proposed by Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), while 15.2 percent said they were not.
The poll found that 68.6 percent of respondents said they were confident that Taiwan would produce its own COVID-19 vaccines, while 24.2 percent said they were not.
Asked whether Taiwan should avoid using the phrase “Wuhan virus” to refer to COVID-19, 49 percent of the respondents said “no,” while 37 percent said “yes.”
Popular support for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was 58.4 percent, while her dissatisfaction rate was 27.1 percent, the poll found.
Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) popular support and dissatisfaction rates were 54.4 percent and 33.1 percent respectively, it showed.
The poll questions were designed by foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) and conducted by the Focus Survey Research company on Monday and Tuesday last week.
The poll collected 1,079 valid samples and has a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS