Identification as Taiwanese rather than Chinese has surged to 83.2 percent amid the COVID-19 outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation said yesterday.
Asked whether they identify themselves as Taiwanese or Chinese, or have other opinions, 83.2 percent of respondents to a poll conducted by Focus Survey Research said Taiwanese, 5.3 percent said Chinese, 6.7 percent said both and 4.8 percent had no opinion or refused to answer.
The results showed that identification as Taiwanese has reached a new high since the foundation’s first such poll in 1991, while identification as Chinese or Chinese and Taiwanese was down by half from a poll in September last year, foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) said.
Screen grab from the Wed site of the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation
Neither Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) reiterations of Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula, nor last year’s protests in Hong Kong led to a significant increase in identification as Taiwanese, which remained at about 70 percent, You said.
There has been an obvious increase since the COVID-19 outbreak, and such change can be seen as significant academically and politically, he added.
Respondents were also asked about the government’s handling of cross-strait issues during the outbreak, with nearly 70 percent voicing approval, and 10.8 percent saying they disapproved, the foundation said.
It is the best rating of the government’s cross-strait policies since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016, the foundation said.
Tsai’s overall approval rating was 68.4 percent, compared with 16.5 percent who disapproved, the president’s second-best showing in a foundation poll, while Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) received a 69.4 percent approval rating.
More respondents said they liked the Democratic Progressive Party (41.1 percent), than the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (12.5 percent), the Taiwan People’s Party (9.3), the New Power Party (5.1), the Taiwan Statebuilding Party (1.9) and the People First Party (0.5).
However, 27.2 percent said that they did not favor any party and 0.9 percent said none of the above.
The nationwide poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday last week and collected 1,079 valid samples. It had a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS