Nearly 80 percent of respondents in a survey released by the New Power Party (NPP) yesterday said that Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) should remain in charge of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The survey, which was partly designed to evaluate the approval ratings of politicians in the current administration, found that Chen, who is combating the spread of COVID-19, has an approval rating of 79.9 percent.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) have approval ratings of 75.7 percent and 74.9 percent respectively, the poll showed.
Photo: CNA
The results showed that the public regards the government’s performance highly, particularly concerning its effectiveness in containing the COVID-19 outbreak, the NPP said.
The results showed that, as most people want Chen to maintain his position on the front line, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) was unwise to propose that he be replaced with someone else, said Trend Survey and Research Co general manager Wu Shih-chang (吳世昌), who was in charge of administrating the survey.
In response, the TPP yesterday said that it would accept criticism with an open mind.
Of the respondents, 95.9 percent said that the economy has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and 71 percent of those think that the effect has been enormous.
On the issue of relief measures, 41.1 percent of respondents said that a tax deduction would be a big help, while 38.2 percent of respondents said that a cash rebate would help more.
The survey was conducted on Monday and Tuesday last week. It collected 1,085 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The results were weighted based on gender, age and education, the NPP said.
Additional reporting by Hsieh Chun-lin
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”