The KMT yesterday released a poll which suggests 64 percent of people in Taiwan support the "one China, with each side having its own interpretation" principle for cross-strait relations.
Also, nearly 60 percent of people want the existing National Unification Council (NUC,
"This shows that the KMT's mainland policy is still approved of by the people. This should be meaningful for the new government," said Chang Jung-kung (
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has tried to set up a cross-party task force as his consultation agency on cross-strait issues, with the President of Academia Sinica Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) as the convener of the non-institutional body.
However, this plan has been frustrated by the KMT and PFP.
When asked whether the NUC should stay as the primary consultation body for the president over cross-strait issues, 35.13 percent of interviewees said they "agreed," and 23.54 "strongly agreed."
The poll also explored people's sense of their Taiwanese/Chinese identity.
It found that 63.2 percent of people said they were both Taiwanese and Chinese, while 25 percent said they were Taiwanese but not Chinese.
Only 2.7 percent said they were Chinese but not Taiwanese.
"People who identify themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese have always been in the majority in a series of polls," Chang said. "Our governmental officials should have the courage to face this fact."
Premier Tang Fei (唐飛) last week, when quizzed by legislators about whether he thinks of himself as Chinese, said he was a "Chinese of the Republic of China."
In the same poll exactly 64.42 percent of interviewees said they supported the "one China, with each side having its own interpretation" model for defining the possibility of future unification.
The former Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Kao Koong-lian (
"Basically most people still favor the status quo. This has not changed over the past nine years," Kao said.
Chao Chun-shan (
He criticized the government's recent takes on cross-strait issues as being inconsistent.
But, the poll also revealed 76.73 percent of interviewees agreed the Guidelines for National Unification (國統綱領) -- approved by the NUC nine years ago and kept by the KMT as the basis of its cross-strait policy -- should be re-scrutinized and revised, which is the present stance of the government.
Representatives at yesterday's press conference skirted their way around statistics that were not in their favor.
"The government should follow public opinion if it is to revise the guidelines.
"They [the guidelines] have provided sufficient room for interpretation [of cross-strait ties] up to now," said Pan Hsi-tang (潘錫堂), a political science professor at Tamkang University.
Pan said he was worried revisions to the guidelines would stir up political tensions with China.
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS