Trust indexes for both Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou and the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) rose in the latest public opinion poll, local media said Tuesday.

The Taiwan Public Mood Index (TPMI) survey for November, by local business magazine Global Views Monthly, found that Ma's trust index had risen to 49.9, up 4.3 points from last month, and the KMT's trust index moved up 3.4 points to 44.4.

The magazine attributed the increase to the progress made in the talks between Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and president of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chen Yunlin in Taipei earlier this month, which helped ease the cross-Straits ties and set up a regular consultation mechanism, as well as the detention of former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian for being allegedly involved in money laundering and corruption.

Meanwhile, the poll found the Economic Confidence Index of the Taiwan public dropped 1.3 points from last month to 27.8, the lowest since Ma took office in May.

The survey used a randomly chosen 1,000 people aged 20 or above between Nov. 14 and 18, according to the magazine.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2008)