Nearly 90 percent of younger people in the nation identify themselves as Taiwanese, with about 40 percent of them wishing to maintain the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait while retaining the option to declare independence, according to a survey released by the China Youth Corps.
The poll, conducted between Oct. 22 and Dec. 10 last year among students in junior and senior-high schools nationwide, found that about 90 percent of the respondents regarded themselves as Taiwanese, with 49 percent preferring to permanently maintain the “status quo” and 38 percent saying they wanted the cross-strait status to remain as it has been in the hope that Taiwan could achieve independence in the future.
Just 12 percent of those polled supported cross-strait “unification,” while about 30 percent said they had never given much thought to cross-strait issues, the survey showed.
Meanwhile, male respondents generally attached greater importance to having a happy marriage and family, while female respondents assigned greater importance to personal freedom and career stability.
As for the growing youth unemployment rate, average low starting salaries and soaring real-estate costs, most respondents said that they did not believe the problems would go away any time soon and they put job stability before climbing career ladders.
Despite the nation’s sluggish job market, nearly 40 percent of those polled were disinclined to seek job opportunities in China, compared with 32 percent who said they would consider the idea, the survey said.
With regard to recreational activities, more than 60 percent of the respondents said that they spent less than 12 hours a week on leisure activities, citing a lack of time, companionship and money as the main reasons.
However, 80 percent of the respondents said that they were frequent users of smartphone messaging applications, while 48 percent said they used the Internet on a daily basis, mostly to chat with acquaintances and meet new friends.
The poll also found a growing willingness among respondents to engage in volunteer work, with more than 70 percent of those polled saying they were inclined to join volunteer missions and 80 percent saying that such activities are meaningful.
However, a wide gap remained between belief and action, as 70 percent of the respondents had never signed up for volunteer activities.
The survey collected 4,021 valid samples with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.56 percent.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS