Close to 59 percent of respondents in a government survey said they supported “systematic” cross-strait negotiations like the talks between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
In a press release, the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission said about 55 percent of those polled said the cross-strait deal signed last month on quality checks for agricultural products was “satisfactory,” while 18 percent disagreed.
The telephone survey was conducted by the commission between Monday and Tuesday last week, with 1,087 respondents.
On Dec. 22, the SEF and ARATS inked three deals on the fishing industry, quality checks of agricultural products and standardizing inspections and certification, bringing the number of pacts signed by Taiwan and China to 12 since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008.
Up to 58 percent of the interviewees said they were satisfied with the agreement on the fishing industry, while 16 percent said otherwise.
Fifty-seven percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with the deal on standardizing inspections and certification, while 17 percent were not, the commission said.
About 49 percent of respondents said they believed the three accords would benefit trade and the economy, while 29 percent of them did not.
About 25 percent of those polled said they did not support signing an economic cooperation framework agreement at the next round of cross-strait talks, while 51 percent said they supported the idea.
Twenty-six percent of the interviewees said the police’s security measures during the talks were excessive, while 12 percent said the police had been too weak during the protests.
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