More than 71 percent of Taiwanese do not agree that participating in the World Health Assembly (WHA) entails accepting the so-called “one China” principle upheld by Beijing, while more than 80 percent said it falls within the new government’s remit to decide how to reply to the WHA’s invitation, a survey yesterday showed.
The poll, conducted by the Cross-Strait Policy Association on Tuesday and Wednesday, found that 69.5 percent of respondents are aware that the WHO mentioned the “one China” principle in its invitation to Taiwan; 30.3 percent had no idea.
When asked whether they would agree that Taiwan has to accept the “one China” principle to participate in the WHA, 57.4 percent of respondents said no, while 22.3 percent said yes, with 20.3 percent choosing not to answer either way.
The survey showed that 45.9 percent of respondents said it would be inappropriate for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to reply to the WHA invitation given that it mentions the “one China” principle and the so-called “1992 consensus,” while 39.1 said it was appropriate and 14.9 percent did not respond to the question.
It showed that 55.5 percent said it would be appropriate for the incoming government to reply to the invitation with a statement underlining that it was unnecessary to mention the “one China” principle, whereas 26.3 percent disagreed.
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.
Asked which government they think should decide on the content and stance of a reply to the WHA invitation, 82.2 percent said it should be the new government, while 9.6 percent said it should be the Ma administration.
Of pan-blue supporters, 76.5 percent said it is the new government’s responsibility, while 18.5 said it is the Ma administration’s.
In response to the question: “Do you agree with the claim that if Taiwan participates in the WHA this time, it means accepting the ‘one China’ principle,” 71.1 percent of respondents said no, while 17 percent said yes. In both the pan-green and pan-blue camps, more than 50 percent disagreed with the claim; 86.3 percent of green camp respondents and 54.7 percent of blue camp.
When given three options concerning how to reply to the invitation — participating, participating with protest over the “one China” principle or turning down the invitation, 57.6 percent said the best approach would be to participate and protest, 26 percent chose simple participation and 8.5 percent said the government should not participate at all.
The survey was based on 1,076 effective samples and had a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
Former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) said that with more than 70 percent denying that participation is tantamount to accepting China’s “one China” principle shows that Beijing’s browbeating tactics have only further consolidated the Taiwanese consensus.
“China’s ‘one China’ principle has caused trouble for the KMT, while it had intended the principle to be a boost. It has sowed a rift in the pan-blue camp and made the KMT stand in opposition to the majority of the people,” Lin said.
Association secretary-general Wang Zhin-sheng (王智盛) said the KMT might become the most unstable element in future cross-strait exchanges while it keeps echoing whatever China says.
“Taiwan’s international participation is what Taiwanese care about, but people also are well aware that it is always Beijing’s pressure that is thwarting Taiwan’s meaningful involvement in international affairs. It is a warning to the KMT that has recently been going ‘deep-blue’ [radicalized],” he said.
Association director Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) said he is not pessimistic about the future of cross-strait interactions.
“President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) are tangoeing; they are learning how to advance and retreat when needed,” Wu said.
“We are participating, but would not accept that your principle’ is an alternative to ‘respective interpretations,’” Wu said, adding this is in line with the public opinion and is a practical move by the incoming Democratic Progressive Party government that should be applauded.
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