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Government survey shows support for visit by Chen

Most Taiwanese believe next week’s visit by China’s top cross-strait negotiator will bring more benefits rather than disadvantages to the country, a recent government survey found.

Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), the chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), is scheduled to arrive in Taipei on Monday for a second round of cross-strait talks.

HELPFUL

The survey showed that about 50 percent of respondents thought Chen’s visit would be helpful to facilitate further development of cross-strait economic relations, while 22 percent thought his coming could harm national sovereignty.

According to the survey, conducted by the Executive Yuan’s Research, Development and Evaluation Commission on Oct. 14 and Oct. 15, 73 percent of the public was aware of Chen’s upcoming visit.

The survey showed that 51 percent of those polled thought Chen’s visit to the country would help the Chinese understand Taiwan’s democratic experience, while 47 percent thought that cross-strait military and diplomatic confrontation would ease as a result.

The survey revealed that about 20 percent of respondents believed Chen’s visit would have an unfavorable impact on Taiwan’s sovereignty, while 61 percent disagreed.

Regarding the protests planned by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and other independence groups against Chen, 27 percent of respondents were in favor of the rallies while 60 percent voiced their objections.

AGREEMENTS

As much as 68 percent of respondents said that the two sides should sign an agreement on establishing a testing mechanism for food safety, and 59 percent said agreements on cross-strait direct transportation and charter flights should be settled through the upcoming negotiations between Chen and his Taiwanese counterpart, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤).

The survey indicated 66 percent of respondents would like to see Chen express goodwill about Taiwan’s hope for entry into the WHO, an issue not included on the agenda for the Chiang-Chen meeting.

A total of 1,085 valid samples of adults aged over 20 were collected.

The survey was one of a series of government actions to win public support for inviting Chen. Pro-localization activists and organizations contend that the government will sell out Taiwan’s interests during Chen’s stay in the country.
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