A poll conducted by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission in May showed that less than 40 percent of people were satisfied with the cross-strait policy of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, sparking accusations yesterday that Ma’s policy was serving the interests of China rather than Taiwan. The survey results were released earlier this month.
The survey asked respondents to rank their level of satisfaction with the government’s policy on a scale of zero to 10, where a score of less than four meant “dissatisfied,” five “neutral” and above six “satisfied.”
In terms of cross-strait policy, 29 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied, 24.6 were neutral, 38.9 percent were satisfied, while 7.5 percent give no opinion, the survey showed.
The commission asked respondents to indicate on a scale from zero to 10 the level of importance they attached to cross-strait policy, with zero being not important and 10 being important.
It found that 59.1 percent of respondents gave the issue a score of at least six points, 18.8 percent gave it a score of five and 12.5 percent gave it less than 4 points, while 9.6 percent did not express any view.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) yesterday said the results of the survey showed that the government had failed to live up to the public’s expectations on cross-strait relations.
“That less than 40 percent of people surveyed were satisfied with Ma’s cross-strait policy in a government-conducted poll shows that his policy is satisfying China, not the people of Taiwan,” Chen said.
Responding to Chen’s analysis, Research, Development and Evaluation Commission Deputy Minister Sung Yu-hsieh (宋餘俠) said the DPP’s reading of the survey was wrong.
More than 63.5 percent of respondents gave a score of five or higher when asked about their satisfaction level with cross-strait policy, showing that they were satisfied, Sung said.
The commission carried out the survey on May 24 and May 25 and collected 1,202 valid samples. The poll had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of less than 2.93 percentage points.
The result was released on the commission’s Web site on Oct. 12.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS