A majority of people are in favor of the in coming Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government negotiating a new cross-strait concept with Beijing that would replace the so-called “1992 consensus,” a survey showed.
The poll conducted by the Taiwan Indicators Survey Research showed that 68.2 percent of respondents were in favor of a change.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
According to the poll, 60 percent viewed cross-strait relations as diplomatic relations between two sovereign nations, while 27 percent thought otherwise.
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has 23 signed accords with China in the past eight years and those of those polled, 37.8 percent said the accords brought more benefits, while 36.8 percent said the accords were detrimental.
On the issue of maintaining the “status quo” on cross-strait relations — defined as maintaining the “1992 consensus” in accordance with the Republic of China Constitution — 40.6 percent of individuals agreed it, while 34.1 percent disagreed.
More than 76 percent of pan-blue supporters polled agreed with maintaining the “status quo” under such a definition, while 58.7 percent of DPP supporters disagreed, the poll showed.
When asked if the new government should initiate negotiations with China on a new political concept to replace the “1992 consensus,” 68.2 percent agreed, while 12.2 percent disagreed.
A majority of respondents — 72.3 percent — were against importing US pork with leanness inducing additives, even if allowing such imports would grant Taiwan entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), while 16.9 percent agreed.
The US and Taiwan are locked in dispute over leanness inducing additives in meat, mainly due to Taiwan banning the use of the additive ractopamine. The dispute is reportedly threatening Taiwan’s entry into the TPP.
The poll was conducted by the TISR on Monday and Tuesday with 1,002 valid responses. The poll has a margin of error of about 3.1 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 percent.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS