Nearly 90 percent of the public identify themselves as Taiwanese and about two-thirds said they are willing to fight for the country in case of war, a survey released yesterday by the Taiwan New Constitution Foundation showed.
The question about national identity showed that 89.9 percent identify themselves as Taiwanese and 4.6 percent as Chinese, while 1 percent consider themselves to be both, the poll showed.
Given more than one choice, 67.9 percent of respondents said they are Taiwanese, 1.8 percent said they are Chinese and 27.9 percent said they are both, the survey showed.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The survey also showed that 36 percent of respondents said they would absolutely go to war to defend Taiwan, while 28.3 percent said they probably would, 12.7 percent said they would not and 7.4 percent had no opinion.
Asked about Taiwan’s future, 50.1 percent of the public support maintaining the “status quo,” 38.9 percent back independence and 4.7 percent favor joining China.
Asked about their perceptions about other countries, Japan received the most positive view with 83.9 percent, followed by the US with 75.6 percent.
In contrast, the majority, or 70.3 percent, have a negative view of China, while only 16.4 percent have a positive view of Taiwan’s neighbor across the Strait.
Asked about the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, 65.1 percent of respondents said they referred to the country’s Olympic delegation as “Taiwan” in conversation, while 27.6 percent said they called it “Chinese Taipei” or “Zhonghua” (中華), the poll showed.
More than 82 percent said they regretted that the country took part in the Tokyo Olympics under the name “Chinese Taipei,” and that the national flag and anthem could not be displayed during the Games, it said.
Foundation chairman and founder Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), 94, said he has supported Taiwan’s normalization as a country for five decades and hoped to achieve that goal in his remaining years.
Taiwan can only transition to a normal country by becoming the “Republic of Taiwan” — not by keeping the name Republic of China (ROC), he said, adding that the poll proves that normalization is the public’s common aspiration.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) must decide if she agrees with their view that her administration exists under the ROC’s Constitutional framework and the Constitution must therefore be changed, he said.
Asked about party affiliation, 31.1 percent of respondents support the Democratic Progressive Party, 12.4 percent back the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and 11.4 percent favor the Taiwan People’s Party, foundation deputy director Lin Yi-cheng (林宜正) said, adding that the New Power Party and Taiwan Statebuilding Party each had 3.8 percent.
The future for defining Taiwan’s status in the world and the rectification of its name rest on developing the Taiwanese national identity, he said.
Foundation deputy director Sung Cheng-en (宋承恩) said the percentage of people who identified as Taiwanese in the survey marked a substantial increase from 83 percent last year.
The poll, conducted from Tuesday to Friday last week, collected 1,071 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS