President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) popularity has plunged to its lowest level yet, a poll showed yesterday, amid a bribery scandal involving a top official who had been a key confidant.
Ma’s approval rating fell to 15 percent, according to the survey of 1,303 people conducted by the cable news channel TVBS this week, after former Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世) admitted taking bribes from a businessman.
Ma’s previous lowest approval rating was 16 percent in August 2009 in another TVBS poll, following Typhoon Morakot, which killed more than 600 people and triggered widespread criticism that his government reacted too slowly.
Photo: CNA
A record high of 64 percent said this week they have no faith in Ma’s future performance, while 78 percent said his administration has poor crisis-management skills, according to the latest poll.
Ma also saw his popularity dive 25 percentage points from a January poll conducted by the channel less than two weeks before he was re-elected for a second term.
Observers said Lin’s bribery case dealt a heavy blow to Ma, who won his second term pledging to fight corruption after former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was implicated in several graft cases.
Lin, a former vice chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), was taken into custody on Tuesday after he admitted wrongdoing in a case that also implicated his mother and his wife.
Prosecutors did not specify how much money was involved, but a businessman alleged that Lin was paid NT$63 million (US$2.15 million) to help him gain a contract with a state firm two years ago.
Lin was also accused of soliciting another bribe of NT$83 million this year from the same businessman, who took the story to the media.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
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