More than 60 percent of respondents disagreed with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) comment that “both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to ‘one China,’” a poll released yesterday by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research showed, while only 26.7 percent agreed with the statement.
Chu made the comments during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Bejiing on May 4. Chu later said that the “one China” he spoke of referred to the Republic of China (ROC), not the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Asked whether Taiwan and China belong to “one China,” 61.6 percent of respondents opposed the idea, 26.7 percent were in favor and 11.7 percent said they had no opinion on the matter or were neutral, the poll showed.
Image provided by TISR
The survey showed that 41.2 percent of respondents said that the talks in Beijing were more favorable to China, while 15.7 percent said they favored Taiwan.
The poll asked: “In the event of Taiwan and China mutually recognizing each other as rightful governments, should both sides enter into an alliance as two nations or merge and become a single country?”
Among respondents, 56.2 percent opposed an alliance, while 24.7 percent supported the idea and 19.1 percent said they had no opinion on the matter.
An analysis of the poll results showed that among pan-blue supporters, 47.5 percent opposed an alliance, while 42.7 percent supported the notion.
When asked who among Chu, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) — seen as potential KMT nominees for next year’s presidential election — would best preserve Taiwanese sovereignty, prioritize Taiwan’s safety and maintain cross-strait relations, Wang was ranked No. 1 by 36.9 percent of respondents, Chu was backed by 26.5 percent and Wu by 4.9 percent, while 12.8 percent said that none of the three would meet their expectations, 1.3 percent said all three were up to the task and 17.6 percent did not respond or said they did not know.
The survey was conducted on Monday and Tuesday.
It collected 1,004 valid samples from people aged 20 or above. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
CHECKING BOUNDARIES: China wants to disrupt solidarity among democracies and test their red lines, but it is instead pushing nations to become more united, an expert said The US Department of State on Friday expressed deep concern over a Chinese public security agency’s investigation into Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) for “secession.” “China’s actions threaten free speech and erode norms that have underpinned the cross-strait ‘status quo’ for decades,” a US Department of State spokesperson said. The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau late last month listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into alleged “secession-related” criminal activities, including his founding of the Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that prepares people for an invasion by China. The spokesperson said that the US was “deeply concerned” about the bureau investigating Shen
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions