Tue, May 19, 2020 page1

• Poll finds major lack of knowledge about Constitution

  WHO KNEW? Just over 80 percent of respondents said they think the nation needs a new constitution, while 87.9 percent said they would define themselves as ‘Taiwanese’

  • By Yang Chun-hui and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  A survey commissioned by activist group Taiwan New Constitution found that a majority of Taiwanese are unaware that the Constitution calls for eventual unification with China, and an overwhelming majority think a new constitution should be drafted, the group said yesterday.

  The poll found that 73.6 percent of respondents felt that international confusion over Taiwan’s relationship with China had become a “serious problem,” the group said.

  Asked whether they were aware that the Constitution called for eventual unification with China, 60.5 percent said no, while 38.2 percent said yes.

  

  From left, Trend Survey & Research Co director Wu Shih-chang, Taiwan New Constitution Foundation opinion poll committee convener Li Ming-juinn, foundation executive director Lin Yi-cheng and foundation founder Koo Kwang-ming hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times

  Asked if the Constitution should be amended to decouple it from the “one China” framework, 67.6 percent said it should, while 17.8 percent said it should not.

  Asked if a new constitution should be drafted, 80.3 percent said “yes,” and 11 percent said “no.”

  The group said it felt that constitutional amendment or replacement was a necessary precursor to solving other problems faced by the government, such the nation’s flag carrier, telecommunications company and other organizations that use “China” in their names.

  The group said the survey reflected a growing “Taiwanese consciousness,” with 70.3 percent of participants identifying as “Taiwanese,” 2.7 percent identifying as “Chinese” and 25.2 percent identifying as “both ‘Chinese’ and ‘Taiwanese.’”

  Asked how they would identify if “Chinese” and “Taiwanese” were seen as mutually exclusive, 87.9 percent said they would call themselves “Taiwanese,” while only 6.9 percent would call themselves “Chinese,” it said.

  Among those who identified as “Taiwanese,” 100 percent of those aged 18 or 19 did so, and 96.7 percent of those aged between 20 and 29 did, the group said.

  As for cross-strait relations, 39.6 percent said they hoped for independence, 50 percent said they wanted relations to stay as they are, and 5.4 percent said they supported unification with China.

  Compared with a survey done in August last year, that represented an 8.1 percent increase in those wishing for independence, and a 6.1 percent decrease in the number hoping for relations to stay the same, the group said.

  If the “status quo” could not be maintained, 76.2 percent said Taiwan should formally declare independence, while 10.9 percent said it should unify with China.

  Asked whether there were seperate nations on either side of the Taiwan Strait, 80.1 percent said “yes,” while 15.2 percent said “no.”

  The nationwide survey, conducted by Trend Survey & Research Co (趨勢民意調查股份有限公司) on May 11 and 12, collected 1,121 valid samples and has a margin of error of 2.93 percentage points.
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