Public support for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration continues to drop, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has garnered slightly more support than the DPP, according to a poll released yesterday.
The poll was conducted by the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum, whose members include forum director-general and former People First Party legislator Pang Chien-kuo (龐建國), and forum chief executive officer and KMT member Hsieh Ming-hui (謝明輝).
About 60 percent of the respondents said they were dissatisfied with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) performance, while about 27 percent were satisfied, Hsieh told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Meanwhile, 41.1 percent of the respondents were dissatisfied with Premier William Lai’s (賴清德) performance, while 37.7 percent were satisfied, said Hsieh, who is a former New Party member.
While the DPP regards the passing of an amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) last month — amid strong opposition from labor rights groups — as a crucial achievement for Lai, the poll found that only 18.8 percent of the respondents believed the amendment would boost labor rights, Pang said.
Asked if the amendment could improve general working conditions and salaries, 43.9 percent of those surveyed said no, the poll showed.
As for which condition of the amendment is the most unacceptable, 33.1 percent of respondents pointed to a relaxed regulation for work schedules that allows workers in certain industries to work for 12 consecutive days, the poll found.
The findings show that after being in office for about 20 months, Tsai’s support base has collapsed, while “Lai the Divine” is losing his divinity after being in office for half a year, Pang said.
The 2014 Sunflower movement — largely composed of students who opposed the KMT’s cross-strait service trade agreement — had given the DPP a considerable advantage in gaining a majority in local elections in that year and the presidential election in 2016, but the DPP is losing the support of students and younger people, he said.
When surveyed about their political leanings, 52.8 percent of the respondents said they were nonpartisan, the poll showed.
Only 18.1 percent said they supported the DPP, which was lower than the 19.1 percent who supported the KMT, but higher than the 6.2 percent for the New Power Party and 2.1 percent for the People First Party, it found.
Even though the difference of 1 percentage point between the responses for the DPP and the KMT is within the margin of error, the poll has revealed a change in public opinion, Pang said.
“The DPP will be unable to rescue its falling support rate, unless it has the rare opportunity to demonstrate its competence by solving a global political or economic crisis,” Chinese Culture University Department of Political Science dean Yang Tai-shun (楊泰順) said.
Polls conducted by other agencies have presented a similar trend, Yang added.
The poll, conducted from Jan. 28 to Jan. 30 by Taiwan Real Survey Co, collected 1,081 valid samples and has a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
‘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
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as