Most people favor resolving the ongoing dispute between the student activists occupying the legislative floor and the government over the cross-strait service trade agreement through a national referendum, a public opinion poll showed yesterday.
The poll, conducted by Taiwan Indicator Survey Research (TISR), showed that 74.2 percent of respondents backed holding a referendum to resolve the issue, 16.9 percent were against the idea and 8.9 percent did not give an answer.
Asked about the legislative deadlock over the pact, 35.4 percent of the 1,010 respondents agreed that the agreement should be sent back to the joint legislative committee for a line-by-line review, 23.5 percent called for interparty negotiations, 16.9 percent said the Executive Yuan should withdraw the proposed agreement and 15.4 percent gave no answer, according to the survey, which was conducted from Monday to Wednesday.
The escalating protests have dealt a blow to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), especially after the bloody crackdown on students on Sunday. Only 16.9 percent of respondents said Ma was trustworthy, while 69.4 percent said they did not trust the president, the poll showed. Both numbers were the worst for Ma since he took office in May 2008.
Meanwhile, Jiang’s disapproval rating of 65.5 percent was the highest in his 13 months in office.
Overall, most respondents supported the student movement, with 63 percent saying that the students, who have been occupying the Legislative Yuan since March 18, were “upholding the nation’s democratic values,” while 19.6 percent said they have jeopardized the democratic system.
More than half, or 54.9 percent, of respondents said the protest erupted because of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ violation of democratic principles.
Despite the high support for the students, 58.7 percent of respondents did not back the movement’s call for a national strike by students and workers. Only 29.1 percent supported the call.
Asked whether their view toward the agreement has changed because of the student protest, 35.2 percent said yes — 26.8 percent of whom said they switched from supporting the deal to opposing it.
Among the 38 percent who said their position was unchanged, 16.9 percent supported the pact, while 21.1 percent opposed it.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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