Most Taiwanese do not subscribe to the “one China” policy, or the idea that Taiwan is part of China, a survey conducted by the Taiwan Cross-Strait Policy Association showed.
According to the survey, 59.7 percent of respondents said that president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) “should not state in her inauguration speech that both sides [of the Taiwan Strait] belong to ‘one China,’ while 22 percent said she should,” association secretary-general Anson Hung (洪耀南) told a news conference in Taipei.
“Asked if they think Tsai should give in if China openly threatens to reduce the number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan, 60.4 percent said they still believed that she should not say Taiwan and China are parts of ‘one China,’ while 24.7 percent said she should,” Hung said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Asked if Tsai should give in to the threat that China would suppress Taiwan’s international space, 60 percent of respondents said she should not; 57.2 percent also said she should not give in to Beijing’s threat of cutting cross-strait economic exchanges.
“The results of the survey show that, no matter how China pressures or threatens Taiwan, the majority of the public still do not agree with the idea that Taiwan and China belong to ‘one China,’” Hung said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) told the news conference that the results of the association’s survey are similar to those of other polls conducted by other organizations as well as the Mainland Affairs Council, and urged Beijing to review those results as well.
“Leaders of a democracy should act according to the will of the majority, and the poll shows that Beijing’s idea of ‘one China’ is unacceptable to most people in Taiwan, and it would be difficult for Tsai to go against the majority,” Lo said.
“Cross-strait relations can progress more smoothly if it remains ambiguous to a certain extent, so Beijing should not be so eager to break that ambiguity,” Lo said.
Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), an associate professor at National Quemoy University’s Department of International and Mainland China Affairs, said that China often calls on Taiwan to respect the opinion of its 1.3 billion people, but “what qualification does the Chinese leadership have to make that call when it does not even respect the opinions of its people and restricts the freedom of speech?”
As Tsai insists that the core of her cross-strait policy is maintaining the “status quo” and refuses to recognize the so-called “1992 consensus,” Beijing has stepped up its calls for Tsai to abide by the “consensus,” while threatening that refusal to do so may lead to serious consequences in cross-strait exchanges.
Although Beijing did not confirm it, there have been rumors that a sharp decline in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan following Tsai’s election is a result of China’s protest over her cross-strait stance.
The poll, conducted from Monday to Wednesday, collected 1,072 valid samples. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better