Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma’s disapproval rating near 70%: polls

Taipei Times

Taiwan Thinktank deputy chief executive Lai I-chung shows a graph of a public opinion survey indicating that more than 68 percent of Taiwanese are not satisfied with President Ma Ying-jeou’s performance, at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

On the eve of the final year of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) second four-year term today, Ma’s disapproval rating stood at nearly 70 percent or higher in various surveys, while his approval rating was as low as less than 20 percent.

The ‘1992 consensus’ never had significance

Chang Bao-yuan 張葆源

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) jointly stated at their meeting on May 4 that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to “one China,” a sentiment that has been echoed repeatedly by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration. Meanwhile, the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are working together against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), trying to force her party into the “one China” framework.

Ma’s deadly fantasy of acceptance by Beijing

Mark Kao 高龍榮

On May 11, the Wall Street Journal published an extensive interview with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in which Ma defended the rapprochement he has forged with China, saying that the closer ties have boosted Taiwan’s economy and security, and should not be tampered with by his successor.

The problem with Ma’s account is that his policies have severely undermined Taiwan’s sovereignty, democracy, security and international space. Like the fictional Peter Pan in J.M. Barrie’s tale, Ma is putting a glossy glow over events and development, while his policies have pushed Taiwan into the unwelcome economic embrace of a repressive China.

Opposing China split is opposing democracy

Lu I-ming 呂一銘

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kin Moy is to become the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) Taipei office. At a time when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) has just returned from meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit Washington for her “political interview,” some have said that the purpose of the AIT appointment is to ensure Taiwan maintains the cross-strait “status quo,” so the US can realize its strategic shift of balance to Asia.

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