Various polls over the past year suggest that the public has contradictory views over cross-strait affairs, academics said at a symposium yesterday.
"While many polls show that the majority of Taiwan's public acknowledges the relationship between China's and Taiwan's economies, the results also show that the majority do not wish to have direct transportation links with China due to national security considerations," said Chao Chien-min (
Chao made the remarks at a symposium hosted by the Mainland Affairs Council. The purpose of the symposium was to analyze the public's thoughts on cross-strait affairs by looking at the results of numerous surveys conducted during the past year.
Citing an example that showed the public's contradictory attitude toward cross-strait affairs, Chao said that while the majority of those polled approved of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) comment that there is "one country on each side" of the Taiwan Strait, a high percentage of respondents said they favored the status quo when it comes to relations between China and Taiwan.
Pointing to another example, Andy Chang (
"Judging from such poll results, I guess you can say that Taiwan's public in general is quite pragmatic when it comes to cross-strait affairs," Chang said.
Chao said most polls showed that residents are cautious when it comes to opening up direct transport links with China.
"A consistent polling result of approximately 72 percent said that direct links, for the sake of national security, should only be implemented under certain conditions," Chao said.
"A majority of Taiwanese do not feel any urgency to open up direct transportation links with China. Many of these polls showed that only a small fraction of the general populace, mainly businesspeople, is fervent about having direct links opened now," Chao said.
Chang added that most polls also suggested that the older and less educated the respondents, the more likely they were to be concerned about the impact of direct transport links on national security.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
RSS