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2021 CommonWealth State of the Nation Survey: Optimism at all-time high

2021 CommonWealth State of the Nation Survey: Optimism at all-time high

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CommonWealth Magazine’s 2021 State of the Nation Survey has found Taiwanese citizens more optimistic about the future of the country than at any time in the nearly two decades the survey has been conducted.

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2021 CommonWealth State of the Nation Survey: Optimism at all-time high

By CommonWealth Magazine
web only

Taiwan’s ability to keep the COVID-19 pandemic at bay has also helped President Tsai Ing-wen garner unusually high satisfaction ratings for a second-term president. 

But Premier Su Tseng-chang’s satisfaction rating is turning negative, and support for Taiwan’s legislative body, the Legislative Yuan, is on the decline, possibly dragged down by the controversy over opening the country’s doors to imports of pork containing traces of a feed additive banned in Taiwan.  

Taiwan’s ability to keep the COVID-19 pandemic at bay has also helped President Tsai Ing-wen garner unusually high satisfaction ratings for a second-term president. 

But Premier Su Tseng-chang’s satisfaction rating is turning negative, and support for Taiwan’s legislative body, the Legislative Yuan, is on the decline, possibly dragged down by the controversy over opening the country’s doors to imports of pork containing traces of a feed additive banned in Taiwan. 

In its many year-end reviews of 2020, international media frequently highlighted Taiwan’s success in containing the pandemic and keeping its economy growing as the West continued to be overwhelmed by COVID-19. The Economist shortlisted Taiwan as one of five countries in contention for its Country of the Year award for 2020.

In effect, its pandemic prevention, economic performance, and technological prowess has propelled Taiwan into the global spotlight. But is this positive vibe rubbing off on Taiwanese and affecting how they see their future? 

Optimism in Country’s Prospects Hits New High

Apparently, it is. In CommonWealth’s 2021 State of the Nation Survey, confidence in the future among Taiwanese was higher than ever. But the results also indicate they continue to fret over daily livelihood issues, such as housing prices, labor insurance issues and the rich-poor divide, and clamor for reforms is growing increasingly loud.

Nearly half (48.9 percent) of respondents were optimistic about the country’s future prospects, the highest in the survey’s history. Some of that optimism results from Taiwan’s economic performance, with which 42.4 percent of respondents said they were satisfied or very satisfied, also the highest since the survey was first conducted in 2002.

President Tsai Ing-wen maintained her relatively high marks from a year earlier. The survey found 48.4 percent of respondents satisfied with her performance compared with 46.8 percent who were dissatisfied. That level of support was not only unusually high for a president in a second term but also exceeded previous highs set by former presidents Ma Ying-jeou and Chen Shui-bian.

Dissatisfaction with Premier Su

Behind the general sense of confidence, however, lie certain warning signals.

When respondents were asked whether their own financial situation would get better or worse in 2021, the percentage who said “get better” or “stay the same (as in 2020)” were lower in both cases than in last year’s survey, indicating a certain degree of hesitancy over the future.

A sense of unease and dissatisfaction with the government’s performance was also seen in satisfaction levels with specific government policies.

Satisfaction with Su Tseng-chang, who as premier is in charge of running the government, fell to 42 percent this year from 45.7 percent last year, but dissatisfaction was at 53.2 percent, up from 45.2 percent last year.

That may result in part from the government’s disjointed response to criticism of Tsai’s policy to allow imports of pork containing traces of the feed additive ractopamine, which is banned for use in Taiwan. The decision was made to remove what the United States saw as an impediment to bilateral trade ties and clear the way for negotiations on a trade deal, but Taiwanese have had a hard time supporting it because of the possible health hazards associated with ractopamine.

In the CommonWealth survey, nearly two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) supported or somewhat supported holding a referendum on allowing pork imports with ractopamine to decide the issue.

Meanwhile, though there was a relatively high degree of satisfaction with the economy, a growing number of people have doubts how the spoils are being distributed. 

Economic Growth Inclusive Enough? 

The issues identified as those the government most needs to “improve immediately” were “raise economic competitiveness,” cited by 30.8 percent of respondents, and “reduce the rich-poor gap,” cited by 27.5 percent of respondents. Rounding out the top five were creating more employment opportunities, safeguarding food safety and improving cross-Taiwan Strait relations (relations with China).

Respondents were not sold, however, on the idea that all of those issues will be successfully tackled. When they were asked if they were confident the government could narrow the wealth gap, 24.2 percent said they were confident or somewhat confident that would happen, while 71 percent said they were not.

The government’s policy to regulate housing prices is a prime example. It passed legislation on registering the real prices of property transactions to prevent property speculation as pandemic fears ease, but the bill did not link the price registration system to Taiwan’s tax system. 

That was a problem because without the linkage, taxes are collected on much lower government-assessed values, meaning lower tax revenues and a lower tax burden for people with the greatest wealth. 

So when respondents were asked if they supported levying property-related taxes (such as hoarding taxes, imposed on owners of four houses or more) based on real property prices, 71.7 percent said they were very supportive or somewhat supportive. That went up to 78 percent support among those aged 20 to 29, indicating that younger people want to see more progressive government policy.

Yet even older homeowners had high expectations for the government’s housing price policy. More than 80 percent of Taiwanese households own their homes, and people 50 and older are the biggest beneficiaries of the property market. But 73.4 percent of respondents in the 50-59 age bracket and 67 percent of those 60 and older still backed collecting property-related taxes based on real prices.

Worried about War

The survey also found that Taiwanese may have reached a turning point on their views on cross-Strait relations.

When asked if they were worried that war could break out between Taiwan and China in the coming year, 18.2 percent said they were very worried and 31.8 percent said they were somewhat worried. The percentage of respondents who were worried was slightly more than the 48.3 percent who indicated they were not.

That only 18 percent said they were “very worried” showed that the sense of fear China has hoped to provoke in Taiwan has yet to materialize and that the country’s successful response to COVID-19 has imbued a sense of confidence in Taiwan’s people. 

Even as China has escalated its threats against Taiwan, Taiwanese have not been moved in the direction Beijing may have hoped in their attitudes on unification vs. independence and Taiwan’s identity. 

When respondents were asked about political relations between Taipei and Beijing, support for the status quo remained the majority view, but was down to 53.1 percent support from 58.1 percent in the 2020 survey. Those who backed “Taiwan independence but maintaining peaceful relations with China” were up to 32 percent, from 27.2 percent last year.

That only 18 percent said they were “very worried” showed that the sense of fear China has hoped to provoke in Taiwan has yet to materialize and that the country’s successful response to COVID-19 has imbued a sense of confidence in Taiwan’s people. 

Even as China has escalated its threats against Taiwan, Taiwanese have not been moved in the direction Beijing may have hoped in their attitudes on unification vs. independence and Taiwan’s identity. 

When respondents were asked about political relations between Taipei and Beijing, support for the status quo remained the majority view, but was down to 53.1 percent support from 58.1 percent in the 2020 survey. Those who backed “Taiwan independence but maintaining peaceful relations with China” were up to 32 percent, from 27.2 percent last year.


Have you read?
What Tsai Ing-wen’s Inaugural Address Told Us about Future Ties with the U.S., China
♦ Civic Tech Versus COVID-19: Online Map and Reservation System Help Fight the Virus
♦ Taiwan Strait: Time for a ‘Cold Peace’ or a ‘Hot War’?

Translated by Luke Sabatier
Uploaded by Penny Chiang

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