Taiwanese Premier Sean Chen comfortably survived a no-confidence vote brought by opposition parties on Saturday over his cabinet's failure to curb rising unemployment and inflation. Parliamentary speaker Wang Jin-pyng said the bid failed by 46 votes to 66. A minimum of 57 votes, representing more than half of the 113-seat parliament, would have been required to oust the premier.

The opposition move came amid mounting anger over Taiwan's income levels, which have remained nearly flat for the past decade as factories have moved production to China. Inflation hit a four-year-high of 3.42 percent in August, while the export-reliant economy shrank 0.18 percent year-on-year in the three months to June. It was only the second no-confidence vote against a premier in Taiwan's history. The first, which also failed, was held in 1999 against then premier Vincent Siew.