Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Survey shows drop in Ma’s trust levels

Taipei Times

A majority of Taiwanese are unhappy with President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) performance in office, with both his popularity and public trust levels dropping this month, a poll by the Chinese-language Global Views magazine showed yesterday.

The poll, conducted on last Monday and Tuesday, showed that 52 percent of respondents were unhappy with Ma’s overall performance, compared with 35 percent who said they were satisfied. This represented a 3 percent drop in satisfaction with Ma and a 0.7 percent increase in dissatisfaction with his performance.

Lee calls for Constitution to be scrapped

Taipei Times

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said Taiwan should replace the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution with a new constitution that reflects modern realities.

Lee said the ROC Constitution, enacted in China in 1947, is not suitable for Taiwan and should be replaced by a Taiwan basic law and that ultimately a new constitution should be enacted.

Lee made the remarks during an event organized by Taiwan Advocates in Taipei with four academics who were representatives of a student movement in 1991 known as the Wild Lilies (野百合學運).

Demonstrators say ‘no’ to nuclear

Taipei Times

Thousands of people mobilized by several civic groups took to the streets in Taipei yesterday to demonstrate against nuclear energy and demand an immediate halt to construction at the nation’s Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

To shouts of: “I love Taiwan, I don’t want nuclear disaster,” and “I want my children, I don’t want nuclear energy,” the protesters were giving voice to a rising number of people who are uncertain about the safety of nuclear energy amid a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which encountered a series of radiation leaks following a powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Situation at Japan power plant stabilizes ‘somewhat’

Taipei Times

One of six tsunami-crippled nuclear reactors appeared to stabilize yesterday as Japan discovered the first food contaminated by radiation and raced to restore power to the stricken power plant to prevent a greater catastrophe.

Engineers reported some rare success after fire trucks sprayed water for about three hours on reactor No. 3, widely considered the most dangerous at the ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex because of its use of highly toxic plutonium.

“The situation there is stabilizing somewhat,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference.

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