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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Most think nation should join the WHA as ‘Taiwan’
New Power Party Chairman Hsu Yung-ming, left, and Trend Survey and Research Co chief executive Lee Chao-li present the results of a opinion poll about Taiwan’s possible participation in the World Health Assembly at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter
A majority of people agree that the nation should participate in the World Health Assembly （WHA） under the name “Taiwan” and strive for regular participation, a survey released yesterday by the New Power Party （NPP） showed.
While 65.1 percent of respondents supported the nation participating in the WHO’s decisionmaking body under the name “Taiwan,” 27.2 percent said that it did not matter what name or status it used as long as it could participate, the survey found.
Taiwan attended the WHA as an observer from 2009 to 2016, but has been denied entry since because of pressure from Beijing.
Of the respondents, 77.5 percent said they believe the government should continue to try to participate in the WHA annual meeting next month, while 15.3 percent said it should not.
Meanwhile, 35.9 percent of respondents “very much support” changing the name of the CPBL to the “Taiwan Professional Baseball League” following reports that people in other countries have mistaken the league for a Chinese one.
Due to Taiwan’s efforts in curbing the spread of COVID-19, the CPBL was able to hold its first game at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on April 12, making it the first professional baseball league in the world to open its season this year.
Of the respondents, 26.4 percent said they “fairly support” the proposal to rename the league, 14.6 percent said they “do not really support” it, 11.3 percent said they “very much do not support” the idea and 11.8 percent said they had “no clear opinion.”
The survey also showed that 17.7 percent of full-time or part-time workers said they have been asked to work reduced hours or take unpaid leave due to the pandemic.
Of the respondents, 70.5 percent were either “very optimistic” or “fairly optimistic” about the development of the pandemic, compared with 25.4 percent who were either “not very optimistic” or “very pessimistic,” it showed.
However, these responses were collected before the Central Epidemic Command Center on April 19 reported 21 COVID-19 infections among navy personnel who had been aboard one of three ships in the navy’s “Friendship Flotilla,” the NPP said.
The poll also found that a majority of respondents supported tax cuts to curb the economic impact of the pandemic.
The survey, conducted on April 17 and April 18 by Trend Survey and Research Co, collected 813 valid responses from people aged 20 and older.
It had a margin of error of 3.44 percentage points.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
