A survey released yesterday suggested that nearly 70 percent of respondents think Taiwan and China are two separate countries and that less than 10 percent think that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to “a divided Republic of China [ROC].”
The survey, conducted by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research (TISR), showed that 69.7 percent believe that Taiwan and China are “two countries with separate development,” 9.6 percent think that both sides belong to “a divided ROC” and 2.4 percent see the two as belonging to “a divided People’s Republic of China [PRC].” A further 18.2 percent had no opinion, the survey showed.
Given a choice of how they would like the international media to refer to the country, “Taiwan” ranked first at 78.9 percent, followed by the ROC at 72.5 percent, “Chinese Taipei” at 25.8 percent and “Taiwan, China” at 6.5 percent; 3.7 percent had no answer.
The survey also showed that if Beijing recognized the existence of the ROC, Taiwanese attitudes toward eventual independence or unification would likely show significant changes.
A total of 73.3 percent of respondents said it would be unnecessary for Taiwan to change its national title or declare independence if China recognized the ROC, while 13.5 percent said it would still be necessary and 13.1 percent declined to answer, the survey showed.
In response to a similar question, 31.2 percent of respondents said they agreed that Taiwan and China should establish an alliance or move toward merging into a new country if the PRC recognized the ROC, while 42.6 percent disagreed and 25.2 percent had no opinion.
In the previous TISR poll in August, 52.3 percent of respondents said they favored Taiwan’s eventual independence and 20.5 percent of respondents envisioned that both sides should seek eventual unification, TISR general manager Tai Li-an (戴立安) said.
It seems that the public’s attitude toward independence and unification could change significantly — about a 10 to 20 percent shift — if Beijing softened its hawkish position on the legitimacy of the ROC, Tai said.
Another question found that 23.7 percent of those polled said they would trust the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) more if the party renounced its attempt to change the nation’s name and seek independence, while 51 percent said their impression about the DPP would be the same, 6.9 percent said they would not trust the DPP as much and 18.3 percent had no opinion.
The survey, conducted from Monday to Wednesday, collected 1,009 valid samples and has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS