SHOW OF MIGHT: While support for and against the president on the national defense front was close, the majority agreed that China’s cross-strait comments were not helpful
Taipei Times
Date: Apr 28, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter
Public reaction to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) handling of national defense issues
The results of an opinion poll on the reaction to President Tsai Ing-wen’s handling of national defense issues and cross-strait relations conducted by the Cross-Strait Policy Association are presented at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
and cross-strait relations is divided, as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) steps up its military activities in the Taiwan Strait, a survey by the Cross-Strait Policy Association showed yesterday.
The survey, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, came on the heels of a series of exercises staged by the PLA around Taiwan this month, including a live-fire drill on Wednesday last week about 20km from the coast of Quanzhou Bay in China’s Fujian Province.
In what was perceived as a counteraction, Tsai for the first time since assuming office in May 2016 boarded a warship — the Kidd-class destroyer Keelung — on April 13 to observe a joint anti-surface sea and air exercise by the military in waters off Taiwan’s east coast.
Although the majority, or 56 percent, of respondents supported Tsai’s warship move, those who approved and disapproved of her performance on the national defense front were close at 47.1 percent and 45.4 percent respectively, the poll showed.
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