The majority of respondents in a survey on cross-strait affairs view the relationship as “state-to-state” and do not support unification in the future, a poll released by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research (TISR) yesterday showed.
Asked whether the relationship between Taiwan and China is “state-to-state,” 59.7 percent gave a positive response, up from 56.2 percent in a similar survey conducted by TISR in April last year, with 25 percent saying “no” and 15.3 percent declining to answer.
The survey, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, also found that 61 percent of those polled did not agree that Taiwan and “mainland China” belong to “one China,” while 26.8 percent agreed and 12.2 percent did not respond.
The same question in last year’s survey found that 48.1 percent did not support “one China,” an increase of almost 13 percentage points in a year.
If the governments on each side of the Taiwan Strait recognized the legitimacy of the other, 50.8 percent of respondents said they would not support a Taiwan-China alliance or unification as a new country.
Only 28 percent said they supported it and 21.2 percent did not give an answer.
Even if the new unified country was given a new name other than the Republic of China or the People’s Republic of China, more than half, or 50.1 percent, of those polled said they would still not accept the arrangement, with 32.6 percent saying they would support the move.
The strongest “one China” supporters in Taiwan appeared to be those who identified themselves as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters, the survey found, as 52.3 percent of them agreed that both sides belong to “one China,” 52.7 percent supported an alliance or unification, and 53.6 percent said they would accept a country with a new name.
Most Taiwanese appeared to find Beijing’s “one country, two systems” model, which has been implemented in Hong Kong, unimpressive, with 61.6 percent saying that the model has left them with a “bad impression” and just 16.7 percent giving it the thumbs-up.
With Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) assuming the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chair on Wednesday, 70.7 percent of all respondents — including 76.8 percent of those who identified themselves as DPP supporters — said it is necessary for Tsai to make public her policies on China.
The poll collected 1,001 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
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