More than 75 percent of respondents in a survey released yesterday said they were willing to defend Taiwan if China launches an attack to take over the nation, triggering discord among officials and opposition parties over the interpretation of the survey result.
In a poll released yesterday morning by the Taipei-based think tank Chinese Eurasian Education Foundation (
Around 9.8 percent of respondents in the survey said they would be unwilling to do so.
The poll, with a sample size of 1,107, was conducted from July 8 to July 10 through telephone interviews with people aged 20 and above. The survey's margin of error falls between plus and minus 2.94 percent.
Participants in a press conference to mark the release of the poll, however, held mixed views of the survey's result.
Director of the KMT's Mainland Affairs Division Chang Jung-kung (
"But this doesn't mean that the ruling DPP can act on its own when handling cross-strait relations," Chang said.
Defending the DPP, Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (
Instead, the government would continue its conciliatory gestures toward Beijing, Chen added.
It was, Chen argued, China's refusal to relinquish its threat of solving the Taiwan issue by force that has made the people of Taiwan determined to defend their homeland.
Meanwhile, 58.9 percent of respondents in the survey said they believed the US would be willing to come to Taiwan's rescue should China attempt an invasion, while 19.7 said it's unlikely that the US would help.
Some 44.4 percent of respondents said they believed fostering cross-strait ties was more important than expanding Taiwan's external relations, while 20.9 percent thought the opposite.
But 21.5 percent said it's equally important to develop ties between Taiwan and other countries as well as to foster amiable cross-strait relations.
Meanwhile, 53.2 percent of respondents said Taiwan should still pursue expanding diplomatic ties even if such a move could trigger tension across the Strait, while 15.5 percent thought otherwise.
The results of the survey also showcased a high percentage of support for President Chen Shui-bian's (
Around 59.8 percent of respondents said they support Chen's move to conduct further state visits in order to enhance Taiwan's status in the international community, whereas 21.8 percent opposed the idea.
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