TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nearly 44% of Taiwanese said they do not find the Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) corruption case surprising, according to a Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) survey published Friday (July 12).
TPOF conducted the survey over three days from Monday (July 8) to Wednesday (July 10), targeting adults aged 20 and above. It follows corruption allegations regarding Cheng that surfaced on Saturday (July 6). He was ordered to be detained on Thursday (July 11).
When asked, “Cheng was charged with accepting bribes during his tenure as mayor of Taoyuan and was detained by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office on July 6, causing a national stir. Are you surprised by Cheng’s alleged bribery?” The results were:
- 19.8% were very surprised
- 20.6% somewhat surprised
- 26.7% not very surprised
- 16.8% not surprised at all
- 6.1% had no opinion
- 9.9% did not know or refused to answer
When asked, “Taoyuan District Court and prosecutors believe there is significant evidence of his crime. Does this incident significantly lower your trust in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government?” The results were:
- 17.2% said very significantly
- 22.2% said somewhat significantly
- 21% said not very significantly
- 20.3% said not at all
- 14.1% had no opinion
- 5.2% did not know or refused to answer
According to TPOF, among Taiwanese aged 20 and above, 39% believe the corruption case significantly lowers their trust in the DPP government, while 41% did not think so.
TPOF Chair You Ying-lung (游盈隆) designed the poll and analyzed the results. The poll used dual-frame random sampling (70% landline, 30% mobile).
