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KMT defends latest
beef poll, dismisses criticism
MUCKRAKING: The KMT called into question the
veracity of a Taiwan Brain Trust poll and said a government survey on US beef
was done to better understand public opinion
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday defended an Executive Yuan poll
that showed an increase in support for imports of US beef containing ractopamine
residue, while dismissing a pro-Taiwan independence group’s criticism of
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) handling of the issue.
The Taiwan Brain Trust think tank on Monday released a poll on the performance
of Ma’s administration that showed the president’s disapproval rating had
reached 62.1 percent in the wake of the government’s plan to erase a ban on US
beef containing the controversial feed additive.
Taiwan Brain Trust chairman Wu Rong-i (吳榮義) said such a high disapproval rating
for the president at the start of his second term illustrated the president’s
incompetence, adding that increasing unhappiness with the government could lead
to a motion of no confidence against the Cabinet.
KMT spokesperson Yin Wei (殷瑋) yesterday said the think tank was manipulating
polls for political purposes and urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
not to use the think tank to attack the Ma administration.
Yin said that DPP spokesperson Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) is the think tank’s executive
director, and Wu and vice chairman Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) served as officials
under former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration, adding that “the
group has released many polls in the past favoring the DPP and the credibility
of its polling should be under public scrutiny.”
Yin also dismissed the think tank’s criticism of a government poll on public
support for imports of US beef and said the Research, Development and Evaluation
Commission conducted regular polling to better gauge public opinion.
A survey by the commission, which polled 1,084 adults from March 6 until Friday,
showed an increase of 22 percentage points in support of imports of US beef
containing ractopamine when four conditions established by the government were
factored in, while the disapproval rate declined by 19 points.
The KMT said it would arrange for Premier Sean Chen to present a report on the
US beef issue before its Central Standing Committee today.
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