More than 60 percent of respondents in a survey released yesterday said Taiwan should not accept the 2008 Olympic Games torch relay route if it degrades the nation's sovereignty.
The survey, released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), also found that 64.2 percent of respondents felt it was unacceptable that Beijing called Taipei "Taipei, China" and the "first stop of the domestic route in the People's Republic of China."
On April 26 Beijing announced the Olympic torch would travel to Taiwan from Vietnam before continuing to Hong Kong.
The Taiwanese government immediately rejected the itinerary, saying it belittled the nation's sovereignty.
The council then conducted a survey to gauge public opinion on the torch relay between Friday and Sunday. A total of 1,067 responses were gathered.
Of those polled, 61.1 percent said they could not accept the route if it belittled the nation's sovereignty.
When asked whether the nation should continue negotiating the torch route if Beijing continues to use the route to deny Taiwan's sovereignty, 42.7 percent said Taiwan should continue talks, while 45. 7 percent said it should not and 11.6 percent expressed no opinion.
MAC Vice Chairman Tung Chen-yuan (
"Those who don't want negotiations may feel that the Chinese government's credibility is so low that Taiwan should not negotiate with Beijing," Tung said.
Tung said that Taiwan and China had not discussed a new route, adding that Taiwan was waiting for a sincere offer from Beijing.
"But we have not heard from Beijing so far," he said.
Meanwhile, the survey also found that 84.4 percent of respondents felt it was unreasonable for the WHO to reject the nation's application with the explanation that "Taiwan is not a sovereign state."
In addition, 87.7 percent said the government should keep on pushing for WHO membership under the name "Taiwan."
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