A poll conducted by the Taiwan Braintrust shows that nearly 90 percent of the population would identify themselves as “Taiwanese” rather than “Chinese” if they were to choose between the two — and the percentage is even higher among those aged from 20 to 40.
With 1,079 valid samples from 20 cities and counties, the results show that if given the option of being “Taiwanese” or “Chinese,” 89.5 percent of respondents said they would identify themselves as Taiwanese, while just 6 percent said they consider themselves Chinese.
Notably, the percentage of people considering themselves Taiwanese rather than Chinese was larger for younger generations.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Among those aged 70 or older, 76.2 percent said they consider themselves Taiwanese rather than Chinese, while 8.8 percent said they think of themselves as Chinese.
However, for people between 30 and 39 years of age, 93 percent identified themselves as Taiwanese, while 3.2 percent said they are Chinese, and for people from 20 to 29 years old, 92.5 percent identify themselves as Taiwanese, while just 2.4 percent said they are Chinese.
As for the nation’s future, 31.2 percent of respondents said they support independence for Taiwan, while 56.2 percent would prefer to maintain the “status quo” and 7.9 percent support unification with China.
However, when given “independence” and “unification” as the only options, 68.9 percent said they would support independence, while 17.1 percent would support unification with China.
Support for independence is also higher among younger generations, with 79.1 percent of people from 20 to 29 years of age supporting independence, while 12.7 percent support unification with China.
The poll also asked respondents about their impressions of domestic political parties and leaders.
Among the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the People First Party, 33.9 percent of respondents said they prefer the DPP, while 20.5 percent said they support the KMT.
As for the parties’ leaders, 65 percent of respondents said they are satisfied with DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) performance, while 20.8 percent said they are not satisfied with her performance.
KMT Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) support was a little behind, with 46.7 percent saying they are satisfied with his performance, while 27.1 percent are not.
At a press conference to release the results, former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) criticized Tsai, saying she is unable to solve most of the nation’s problems, including issues of cross-strait relations, while Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) could work things out.
“Our objective is not to get someone elected president; we need a president who can lead Taiwan and solve all the problems,” he said.
PACIFIC OCEAN: Defense experts have warned that the ‘Shandong,’ China’s second largest aircraft carrier, poses a serious threat to eastern Taiwan’s defenses The drills conducted by the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong in the Western Pacific last week were more aimed at showcasing China’s military capabilities to the US rather than toward Taiwan, a Taiwanese defense expert said yesterday. Lin Yin-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said the drills which involved dozens of warplanes sought to test China’s anti-access and area denial capabilities should the US and its allies attempt to interfere in a cross-strait conflict. Lin said that the latest Chinese drills coincided with a joint maritime exercise conducted by the US, South Korea
Thousands of bottles of Sriracha have been returned or destroyed after the discovery of excessive sulfur dioxide, a bleaching agent, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Tuesday. About 12,600 bottles totaling 9,991.8kg of the hot sauce imported from the US by Emporium Corp (河洛企業) were flagged at the border for containing illegal levels of sulfur dioxide, the FDA said in its regular border inspection announcement. Inspectors discovered 0.5g per kilogram of the common bleaching agent and preservative, higher than the 0.03g permitted, it said. As it is the first time within six months the product has been flagged, Sriracha products from
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
CHANGES: While NCCU opened the nation’s first co-ed dorm in Mucha, a recent survey showed that Taiwanese are in favor of abolishing gender segregation at high schools National Chengchi University (NCCU) has opened a co-ed dormitory, a first in Taiwan among state-funded Taiwan universities. The 22 duplexes are at the renovated “Huanan New Village,” in Taipei City’s Mucha (木柵) area, near the NCCU campus, a school official said yesterday. Twenty-two out of 37 group applications were selected in a lottery draw to select who would be chosen to live in the units, which can either be shared by up to eight students if the unit has four bedrooms, or up to 10 students if it is a five-bedroom unit, officials said. Completed in 1964 for campus staff housing,
RSS