Taiwanese food products have done much to raise awareness of Taiwan, as chefs in North America and Europe are learning how to make “Taiwanese pork belly sliders” (gua bao) while Taiwanese pearl milk tea is a hit in many countries. Government cultural agencies in Taiwan have put great effort into promoting Taiwan as a food destination. But because of disagreements between the pro-Taiwan and the pro-China side in Taiwan’s politics over what “Taiwan” means, and from the lack of domestic markets and infrastructure to support them, cultural products such as film and music remain unexplored realms of soft power.This was stimulated by a conversation on Twitter that took off from the success of Crazy Rich Asians and asked what could be done for Taiwan...
The next commodity, camphor, was produced in the Barus area of western Sumatra and on Borneo. The Far East also produced a substance known by this name but its chemical composition was different and it was never valued as highly as imported camphor. Song sources list foreign camphor as an import from Srivijaya and Champa. There are also references to imports from Butuan and occasional shipments by merchants from Persia, Chola and Cengtan (on the Arabian Peninsula?). It is obvious that Butuan and Champa received their camphor from Borneo while the other imports originally came from the Barus area. Wang Dayuan refers to camphor products in his chapters on Champa, Trengganu, Samudra, Xialaiwu, Danmaling (Ligor?), Brunei, Pulau Rondo (Longxianxu), Dudu'an, Srivijaya and Suluoge. Camphor, it is clear, continued to be available in the Yuan period along both the western and the eastern trunk routes.45Ptak has written a whole book on the area's camphor trade before 1500, and obviously knows his stuff.
Recap to what happened today about #China - #ElSalvador - #Taiwan quandary: @MOFA_Taiwan refused to be blackmailed by Salvadorian government asking for exorbitant sums of money to fund 2019 elections + port infrastructure. Salvador’s been pressuring TW during past 2 monthsA new thing was signaling of support for Taiwan by Republican Congressmen on Twitter who tweeted indignantly about the switch:
Ted Yoho @RepTedYohoMarco Rubio of Florida threatened El Salvador over the switch. Also new was that Taipei dumped El Salvador before it switched, a good move.
U.S. + like-minded countries cannot wait much longer to prevent #China ’s reach. China is actively pursuing #Taiwan’s remaining allies through diplomatic + economic coercion. We cannot stand idly by, while China bullies its way into power.
@SenTomCotton: “The Chinese Communist Party should know that every time it bullies a country into severing ties with Taiwan it only strengthens the bonds between the U.S. and the Taiwanese people.” Agreed.
ジェームス@jmstwnJessica Drun posted the thoughts of one of El Savador's opposition politicians in this thread, describing them....
Peeling off an ally after every Tsai trip abroad is one way to undermine the narrative of that trip, too
He regrets the decision (interestingly calls "Taiwan" "China Taiwan"), notes distance of El Salvador from community of democracies, calls the move "treasonous," and calls the move the end to a disastrous government. Interesting to see the domestic politics angle in all this.
The so-called 1992 consensus is subject to competing interpretations, and is widely perceived in Taiwan as an ex-post facto fabrication on the outcome of discussions between representative bodies from China and Taiwan in Hong Kong in 1992.This is probably the first piece in the international media to use the term "fabrication" in conjunction with the 1992C. Taylor also gets the connection to independence and quotes DPPer Yu Shyi-kun and turncoat Hsu Hsin-liang on the topic:
China takes the consensus as an affirmation of its ‘One China Policy,’ and its position that Taiwan is an indivisible part of it. Tsai, with the backing of the DPP, refuses to acknowledge the consensus.
As former Premier Yu Shyi-kun, leader of a Taiwanese delegation to the inauguration of President Donald Trump, reflected, the loss of small diplomatic allies to China amounts to more domestic budget for Taiwan.Kudos to Taylor for this excellent reportage...
Former DPP Chairman Hsu Hsin-liang, head of Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies, which is a private think tank, has echoed such views, arguing that small diplomatic allies impose an unnecessary economic burden on Taiwan. Losing them “is not really important,” he said.
The latest diplomatic switch leaves Taiwan further isolated on the international stage. Beijing claims that Taiwan, which operates under its own government, currency, and military, is an inseparable part of China and says it will not maintain ties with any country that has formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.The Guardian did extensively quote Tsai and also Joseph Wu (yay!), but still The Formula there bolded in red tells us only what Beijing thinks, and not what Taiwan thinks. Typical. In the international media, Beijing's claims are almost never interrogated or challenged. The Straits Times ran a very similar quote, with Taiwan also silenced.
Relations between China and Taiwan have reached a low under Tsai, who belongs to the Democratic Progressive party, which advocates independence for the island. Since her election, Beijing has ramped up efforts to poach Taiwan’s allies. Now, just 17 countries recognise Taiwan, after Burkina Faso and the Dominican Republic cut ties and recognised Beijing instead earlier this year.
"If the ROC is completely unrecognised I believe Beijing's calculation is that it will be easier to delegitimise the government in Taipei and prime demoralised Taiwanese and international society for unification," said Jonathan Sullivan, Director of China Programmes at the University of Nottingham.Note Sullivan's careful choice of point of view and words. "If the ROC..." -- almost every newspaper article simply says it was "Taiwan" that lost recognition. The problem with that is simple: no nation on earth recognizes Taiwan, they all recognize the Republic of China as the sole and legitimate government of China. The international media either doesn't understand this, is too lazy to explain, or prefers to emphasize Taiwan because that increases the clickbait value of the article. Thus Sullivan's precise use of "ROC" and "government in Taipei" because Sullivan understands that Taiwan has neither lost nor gained anything.
[Tamil]: "Obeisance to Hara (Siva)! Let there be prosperity! On the day Citra in the month of Chittira in the Saka year 1203 (1281 A.D.), the Tavachchakkarvarttigal Sambandhap-perumal (a Saiva religious leader) caused, in accordance with the firman (written permission) of Chekachai Khan (the Mongol ruler), to be graciously installed the God Udaiyar Tirukkadalisvaram Udaiya-nayinar (Siva), for the welfare of the illustrious body of the illustrious Chekachai Khan." -- source
Are quiet port visits by US navy ships in the offing? Quite possibly. Consider that the US navy does not have to send a warship — it possesses many different kinds of vessels that are utterly unwarlike, from research vessels to hospital ships to repair vessels to ordinary cargo vessels. A smart salami slicing style move would be to send one of those, then gasp in mock astonishment when China goes into paroxysms of rage: “it’s not even a warship.” Or the US could send the USS Blue Ridge, a command ship which visited Shanghai in 2016, which would enable Washington to piously claim it is engaged in displays of evenhandedness.Go thou and read!
The LA branch of Taiwanese-owned 85C Bakery Cafe gave the coffee, along with an enthusiastic welcome, to Tsai Ing-wen when she dropped in last Sunday.That summary is pretty much correct. We will come back to the bolded parts in a second. J Michael Cole pointed out in a piece at Taiwan Sentinel that this "bottom up" nationalism in which netizens attack foreign firms who don't conform.
But many Chinese customers - who visit the chain's branches in mainland China - were furious, calling for a boycott.
China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, and the Chinese public are often quick to jump on anything that is seen as endorsing Taiwanese independence.
Warmly welcoming Ms Tsai, the leader of a pro-independence party, was seen as unacceptable.
Yet, when the bakery chain tried some damage control, quickly putting out a statement distancing itself from pro-independence sentiments, it only sparked more anger - this time in Taiwan, where people accused the company of bowing to Chinese pressure.
After photos of the encounter were made public, Chinese ultranationalists kicked into action and accused the chain, which operates 859 stores in China and made 64% of its Q1 revenue there, of supporting Taiwan independence. Threats of a boycott (described by the South China Morning Post as a “zealous online campaign”) were sent to the company’s Weibo account, and its Taiwan website was was knocked offline by what is believe to have been a cyber attack. The next day, Long Mingbiao, deputy director of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), said China would “never allow” a company that (purportedly) supports Taiwanese independence to operate in China.Actually, it's all nonsense, as lots of companies that support independence operate in China. Cole rightfully worries about the threat of ultranationalism, but I wonder if these incidents can be taken at face value -- how much of the "ultranationalism" comes down to internet minders as orders from Beijing, so that Beijing can arrange incidents like this. But it probably doesn't need to...
Thus threatened, the company — which was founded in 2004 and is now registered in the Cayman Islands — issued a three-point apology on its China website. The company thanked the Chinese for “educating” it, reaffirmed its “firm support” for the so-called “1992 consensus,” and stated its hopes for the “peaceful unification” of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait while “opposing any behavior and remarks that separate the brotherhood of the two sides.”
Although Ms Tsai has been a moderate voice on the independence issue since her election, she is viewed by the mainland as a dangerous separatist.Whew! BBC almost said something about Taiwan without telling us what China felt! At least they stated that Tsai is a moderate as if that were a fact in the world. Kudos to them for that tiny advance toward truthfulness.
"85C is a 'Taiwan independence' two-faced company," said one post on social media..."...but nada from social media in Taiwan.
It reiterated its "firm support" for the 1992 Consensus - a loose agreement between Taiwan and China that there is only one China, without defining what that means.This is just plain Beijing-slanted fictionalizing. There is no "agreement" between Taiwan and China called the 1992 Consensus -- no consensus was reached at the 1992 meeting in Singapore between the unelected representatives of two authoritarian parties. Rather, after 2000, KMT and CCP politicians working to suppress democracy and independence in Taiwan agreed to pretend to each other that there was a 1992 Consensus (which they differ on!). The "agreement" is between the KMT and the CCP, not Taiwan and China. Sad.
In Taiwan, it sparked accusations that the bakery was bowing to pressure from Beijing.An actual quote from the Presidential office. Apparently Taiwanese netizens are not worth quoting, and BBC gives us no information on independence though it gives extensive information on China's belligerent expansionism (and goes into some depth further in the article). Instead, BBC assumes "independence" without mentioning so much as a poll or the word "identity". Without that, "bowing to pressure" is meaningless.
A spokesman for the presidential office in Taipei called accused China of carrying out an "uncivilised act" which would "hinder the world market order and freedom of speech".
Ting stressed that through past big data analysis, people with traits such as being male, not being married, living alone, unemployed, lacking in sex, and with poor interpersonal relationships may have a tendency to abuse children or randomly kill people. These people are time bombs. If you can make good use of data in the future, and cooperate with medical units, police agencies or social welfare organizations to strengthen pre-visits, monitoring, and control of these people to "reduce their harm", you can achieve crime prevention.In Taiwanese society, especially to the mainlander mind, the solution to all social problems is always "more control". Ting was pilloried on the net for his lack of imagination and strong need for control. Recall in the 2016 election run up when also-ran Soong said that only those who were faithful to their wives and children can be faithful to their country. In this view violators of traditional morality like single, unemployed men are violators of the Confucian order, weakening the nation...
Breaking Away = Formalizing current de facto independence. In many writings Taiwan is described as “breaking away” or a “breakaway” province. Such language implies that Taiwan is part of China, though under international law it is not. It is always better to write that Taiwan is formalizing its independence and is not “breaking away” from China.Thanks for Andrew Kerslake and Tim Maddog for inspiration. This one will keep growing.
Yao was never meant to win, and as Solidarity notes, complains the party isn't supporting him. That's as it should be. Yao was run because DPP city councilors who feared for their seats wanted a DPP candidate to get out the vote. But it was obvious as many of us noted that a strong DPP candidate would split the non-KMT vote and likely put the KMT's Ting Shou-chung into the mayor's seat.On a television program a couple days ago, Yao’s campaign spokesman Hung Li-chi (洪立齊) called for DPP members whose loyalty to Yao over independent incumbent Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is unclear–including popular DPP city councilor Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜)–to either leave the party or be expelled from it. Yao has given the impression this statement was unplanned but has stood by it nevertheless, saying his spokesman represents the campaign. Meanwhile, the DPP has withdrawn its endorsement of a neighborhood warden who has endorsed Ko, leading the warden to tearfully ask if it is wrong to support someone who gets things done.After hearing Hung’s remarks, Kao said she was confident Yao would “be a hero and save the beauty”; when Yao instead affirmed Hung, Kao wrote that she would reflect on how to support Yao, but also challenged him to resign from the legislature for the sake of his campaign. Apple Daily (which has a good relationship with Kao) launched a Facebook Poll asking, should Kao Chia-yu leave the DPP, or should Pasuya Yao resign from the legislature? As of 7 pm Taiwan time on August 9, the readership overwhelmingly stood with Kao:Kao should leave the party: 8%Yao should resign: 92%
“Being ‘deep green’ is my background, but the most beneficial thing for me as Taipei Mayor to do for Taiwan at present is to continue exchanges between the two cities,” Ko said. “So saying that the ‘two sides of the Strait are one family’ does not contradict my being ‘deep green.’”The purists in the DPP who pouted when Ko used that language are why we can't have nice things. For all his alleged naivete Ko is very aware of what he has to be doing as mayor of the nation's capital and as mayor of city that is half-Blue. That is why he is getting re-elected, with the strong support of the young -- who are deep green but want alternatives to the corporate-owned, neoliberal, business-as-usual DPP. Ko was quoted in another article this week on his Shanghai Forum remarks...
“I worked at intensive care units and emergency rooms as a doctor, and doctors have a trait: We never get to choose our patients,” Ko said. “We cannot ask patients to come in only if they are affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] or Democratic Progressive Party.”Note how his language highlights a common "neither Blue nor Green" approach taken by independent politicians, and also emphasizes the practical reality of being mayor of the national capital. Ko knows well he has strong support and can afford to point out that his opponents are being purist idiots.
He has no difficulty speaking with politicians from the pan-blue or the pan-green camps, Ko said, adding that having “practical dialogues” is his specialty, because his experience as a surgeon has made him practical and willing to listen to different opinions.
“The statement that ‘the two sides of the [Taiwan] Strait are one family’ is still a fundamental element [of my cross-strait discourse] for the time being. It does not pertain to politics, but rather to cultural and economic exchanges, as well as exchanges between private actors and between cities,” he said.
One of the biggest obstacles to China's campaign for "national rejuvenation," President Xi Jinping's plan to guide the country to world prominence, lies across 180 kilometers (112 miles) of water on the island of Taiwan. The mainland's drive to return China to a position of global strength — which it hopes to complete by 2049 — includes reunification with Taiwan.Taiwan is not an "obstacle" to Chinese power (note that China has grown quite powerful and enjoyed excellent economic growth without Taiwan) nor is what is going on "reunification". It's annexation. At least have the grace to put "reunification" in quotes. Taiwan is a target. It's time to stop using language that treats Taiwan as a "problem". Onward....
While successive governments in Beijing have tried without success to reclaim or to reintegrate the island, they did prevent it from pulling away.The whole piece has this casual, hazy approach to history. It was not Beijing but the KMT in Taiwan that squelched Taiwan independence via authoritarian power. Beijing has never had the power to prevent Taiwan independence. Let's hear Fairbank from 1957 again:
The Chinese on Taiwan deserve an opportunity for self-determination, to join the mainland or remain free of it as they wish. There is little doubt today that they would seek freedom from the mainland.That sentiment has always been crushed by the KMT...
Today, with the island's younger generations displaying an increasing desire for independence, the United States is showing signs of greater support for Taiwan. These factors have helped to push tensions across the Taiwan Strait to their highest point in a decade.Let's rewrite that so it reads properly:
Today, with the island's younger generations displaying an increasing desire for independence, the United States is showing signs of greater support for Taiwan. These factors have pushed Beijing to increase tensions across the Taiwan Strait to their highest point in a decade.Tensions are not caused by the US or Taiwan. They are caused by Beijing's desire to annex Taiwan.
Over the decades, Beijing has alternated between military intimidation and economic sweeteners to try to keep the government in Taipei in lineThe "economic sweeteners" have two functions: (1) hollow out Taiwan's economy and (2) prepare the domestic audience for war by showing that Beijing has exhausted all peaceful approaches. Oh, and of course, to get the media to dutifully reproduce this language about "economic sweeteners" to make Beijing look reasonable. Onward...
Recently, the mainland's elevated military posture along with increasing diplomatic coercion and heated rhetoric about reunification have strained relations with Taiwan. A growing willingness by both Taipei and Washington to break cross-strait protocols has aggravated tensions.Hahahaha. Hahahahahahahahaha. What "growing willingness?" What cross-strait protocols are being referred to? No concrete examples are given, of course, but you can be sure that if tensions are rising, it surely is the fault of Taipei and Washington.
The current U.S. administration is not the first to challenge the "One China" principle — mainland China's view that it has sovereignty over Taiwan — but the changing balance of power between the mainland and island is heading into a pivotal period.
For China, Taiwan is a last holdout to its long-awaited national reunification...nope. It's annexation, and it won't be the "last". As anyone who has studied this knows, the Senkakus and Okinawa are next after Taiwan. Then islands around Phils... then the gods only know what new territories the Chinese will claim...
During its history, China has ruled Taiwan indirectly for long spans. But the island has also been home to European and Japanese colonies...."China" has never ruled Taiwan. Ever. For all of Chinese history down to the end of the Ming, the island was officially ignored, occasionally visited by individual people from China, but never ruled by any Han emperor. The Manchus annexed the west and NE coast beginning in 1683, but the first government to rule the whole island was Japan's.
With term limits on the Chinese presidency removed, Xi could attempt to address reunification during his tenure.Yup. Many people scared of this possibility.
Finally, Beijing is increasingly concerned that the understanding of the "One China" policy — under which the United States recognizes Beijing as representing China — could be at risk. The United States could move closer to recognizing Taiwanese independence or could adopt a more assertive and visible military presence on the island.The author's lazy cluelessness is on display again. The US recognizes Beijing as the sovereign government of China -- but doesn't include Taiwan in that China. Hence there is no contradiction between the US "one China" policy and Taiwan independence. What the author wants to say is that the US could use the possibility of support for Taiwan independence as a lever against China.
Between Two Giants: Taiwan's FutureThe author treats the Taiwan issue as a thing between Washington and Beijing, but of course, there's Tokyo. And Phils. And the states around the South China Sea. The world this writer describes is a geostrategic bubble world in which Japan does not exist. Taiwan is crucial to Japan's defense, and war in the Taiwan Strait would likely involve Japan (quick, where are those US planes that might defend Taiwan based?).
Taiwan's path ahead is uncertain and risky. It sits between two giants locked in a great power competition, and its limited international clout and increasingly outmatched military puts it at a disadvantage.
If a poll were taken now to determine what status Formosans want for their island, I am sure that at least a two-thirds majority would favor independence....sentiment is the same as its always been...
“Since the KMT mascot design competition stresses on freshness and energy, I picked a chicken as the design which symbolises youthful spirit,” the description for the proposed mascot said. “But I wanted to make him funnier and younger, so I decided to make it a person wearing a chicken costume, running with full spirit, to symbolise KMT leading Taiwan forward.”Alas, the netizens count only 20% in the choice. But the desire to pick a mascot reflects the need of the KMT to appear youthful. It also reflects a cultural preference: just as in the US power is masked by politeness (Please exit to the left, Thank you for not littering), in Taiwan it is masked by cute.
"因為我們與中國同文、同種、同血緣」，同時指出兩岸本來就是一家人，台灣若要與中國大陸雙方對抗根本沒有道理可言."Essentially: since Taiwanese and Chinese have the same culture, race, and blood, and the people on both sides of the Strait are one family, Taiwanese fighting Chinese is irrational. He also said that if he were elected, he would not permit the sons and daughters of Taiwan to fight China for Taiwan independence.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said Thursday that the government will continue to "negotiate" with residents of Rueifang District in New Taipei to dispel their fears about the planned reopening and expansion of a decommissioned coal-fired power plant in the area."Negotiate" in this case means simply wear them down until they shut up, and then build a power plant that the nation does not need and which will hurt both the local and global environments. I wish it were hard to find public policy-making more moronic than this, but most nations run their energy policies this way.
"Our responsibility is to negotiate, negotiate and negotiate with them, with compassion, before going ahead with the plan," Shen said at a news conference, when asked about the government's plans for the controversial Shen'ao Power Plant.
Consider: Taiwan combines both the problems of Hong Kong — an established order of democracy and rule of law backed by a long history of dealing with colonial power — and Xinjiang: an isolated population with its own identity and a long history of independent cultural development. In Taiwan this double whammy of problems for the occupation is the hallmark of the young, whose independent Taiwan identity has robustly incorporated the idea of democracy.Go thou and read!
🙄Note: today's Little Ryukyu, is called just Ryukyu in 1954. Whereas Ryukyu became Okinawa in Japan)Note also that on this map Lanyu (Orchid Island) is "Red Head Island". Wiki observes:
There is so much twists and turns, so much bullies, enforcements and disguises between 1940 to 1960 in Taiwan, that one could discover something every week for the rest of the year.
I came across the original of this map printed in 1942 (1945 ended Japanese occupation) the other day, now I can’t find it. But I noticed something then that today’s Green Island (Ludao) Japanese had called it something else, 3 characters and beginning with Fire 火. I looked up then, and learned that it was called ‘Bonfire Island’. It was changed to Green Island (the Oasis Hell. Sadly it turned out History made it) in 1949 when Chiang KS retreated to Taiwan.
This map is printed in 1954. I couldn’t find the original in 1942, but it is now owned by National Taiwan History Museum Tainan, that I remember.
In this map – you see both names printed ‘Green Island’ and ‘Bonfire Island’.
(The name "Green Island" is a calque of the island's Chinese name Lǜdǎo, which was adopted on August 1, 1949, at the behest of Huang Shih-hung (黃式鴻), the magistrate of Taitung. Prior to 1949, it was known as Bonfire Island from its former name Kashō-tō (Japanese: 火焼島). In the 19th century, it was also called Samasana Island from its Amis name Sanasai.)
he island was first mapped on Japanese charts as Tabako-shima in the early 17th century and Tabaco Xima on a French map of 1654. The Chinese, who had no contact with the inhabitants of the island, called it Ang-thau-su (Chinese: 紅頭嶼; pinyin: Hóngtóuyǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Âng-thâu-sū; literally: "Red-headed island"), from which it was called Kōtō-sho (紅頭嶼) during Japanese rule. The Japanese government declared the island an ethnological research area off-limits to the public.After the KMT occupied Taiwan in 1945 the restriction on visits to the island was retained, and finally removed in 1967. Its name was officially changed in 1946 but obviously not everyone got the memo.
____ describes the organization accurately. Leading members have much to offer, in particular deep background on Power Corporation, a huge corporation and major player all over the world which has somehow managed to fly below the radar of Canadian citizens for many decades._______________________
Power Corporation has virtually dictated China policy to all Canadian governments since at least 1972. And the China policy it dictates has always been determined and drafted in Beijing. Through Power Corporation, Beijing has virtually owned every Canadian Prime Minister since 1972. It prefers the Liberal Party, but had no difficulty working through PM Brian Mulroney when the Conservatives were in Power. Later still, when the Conservatives came back to power in 2008 under Stephen Harper (who took office with a notably anti-China public persona), it took about two years. But after that, Harper did as he was told and toed the Power Corp line as had all Prime Ministers of both parties before him.
Pierre Trudeau was a behind the scenes co-founder of the Canada China Trade Council (Now the Canada China Business Council) in 1972, along with the then CEO of Power, Paul Desmarais. When Brian Mulroney brought the Conservatives back to power, he had a history with Power Corp as their Labour Lawyer. Jean Chretien had been a Cabinet Minister under Pierre Trudeau. When Trudeau’s Liberals were soundly defeated by Mulroney, Chretien left politics to accept a position with Gordon Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Corporation.
Later Chretien led a Liberal victory over Mulroney and became Prime Minister in his own right. By this point, Chretien’s daughter was married to Andre Desmarais, son of Paul Desmarais and new CEO of Power.
Paul Martin succeeded Chretien and immediately preceded Stephen Harper. Martin was a huge tycoon who had made his fortune as owner of Canada Steamship Lines. CSL had been a division of Power Corp but had been spun off to Martin. Martin later moved the international headquarters of CSL from New York to Shanghai and for many years has had almost all its ships built in China.
Power Corp is the major investor in the Three Gorges Dam project and, along with Bombardier, is also a major investor in the China/Tibet railroad project.
There is much more to the Power Corp story and I apologize for going on at such length.
Asked who should be responsible for the incident, 40.5 percent said Beijing, while 31.5 percent said the Taiwanese government.It's actually amazing to me that 31% of the people blame Taiwan when China hurts it. But this poll from the pro-China Cross Strait Policy Association is nothing but good news for Lin. Not only does it show him with higher favorability and support numbers, it also has high support for building the venue and for his handling of the cancellation. The DPP poll also found that 68% blame China. Lot of idiots out there in the minority, fortunately...
Despite the cancelation, 71.1 percent of respondents said that the city should continue to build the sports venues intended for the Games, while more than 80 percent said that they supported Lin’s appeal to reinstate the Games.
Regarding satisfaction over Lin’s handling of the incident, 57.6 percent said that they were satisfied, while 22.7 percent said they were dissatisfied.
The survey also gauged how the incident affected Lin’s approval rating. It found that 43.2 percent of voters support Lin’s re-election bid, while his main competitor, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), garnered support from only 24.4 percent.
Lin also led the favorability rating by 25.6 percentage points, the survey found.
The Taichung mayoral election to be held in November is widely considered to be a close race, National Taiwan Normal University Graduate Institute of Political Science professor Fan Shih-ping (范世平) said, adding that the result would also be considered a bellwether for the 2020 presidential race.
As for the Nov. 24 elections, Ko has a significant lead (64.4 percent) in supportive rate against his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rivals, Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) and Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) respectively, the poll found.Ko laughed at questions about him running for president. I do not think he will run in 2020. He'd have to run against Tsai Ing-wen, and his deputy mayor is DPP. That would mean turning his own city over to the party of his major rival, while annoying the population by leaving his job early. I don't see that happening. But it might not be a bad idea for the DPP to bring him into the party for the 2024 election and run him as Veep, if he'd accept that.
Public dissatisfaction with Tsai’s performance reached 64.1 percent, increasing by 3.8 percentage points from a February poll, while dissatisfaction with Premier William Lai’s (賴清德) performance rose 6.4 points to 47.5 percent, Hsieh said.The poll is simply a political attack on the DPP and should carry no weight as an analysis of the electorate. But that last paragraph there has half the population showing no party preference. It's pretty obvious to everyone that the population wants another party choice, but no party has stepped up. Nor can they -- the mathematics of a winner-take-all system work against smaller parties. That is why the KMT and DPP colluded to get rid of the old system. We need to return to that.
While Tsai has encouraged government officials to show humility, nearly 40 percent of respondents said that the ruling party has not demonstrated more tolerance for social dissent than the KMT, Hsieh added.
Asked which party they supported, 23.1 percent said the KMT and 14.6 percent chose the DPP, while more than half of respondents had no preference, he said.