More than 60 percent of the respondents to a survey said that “Mainland China” should no longer be designated as the nation’s territory if the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution is amended, the Taiwan Indicators Survey Research said on Thursday.
While amendments to the ROC Constitution considers China, called the “Mainland Area,” and Taiwan, called the “Taiwan Area,” as territories of the ROC, a majority of the respondents said they disagree with the amendments.
According to the results of the survey, 63.5 percent of the respondents said that if the Constitution is to be amended again, clauses stipulating the “Mainland Area” as ROC territory should be removed and 19.8 percent said that it should continue to be designated as territory of the ROC, while 16.6 percent declined to answer the question.
An analysis of the survey results showed that there might also be a generation gap over the issue of whether the “Mainland Area” should continue to be ROC territory, with support for removing the related clause increasing among younger people.
While China repeatedly asks president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to recognize the so-called “1992 consensus” and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office director Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) says that Tsai’s refusal to recognize the “consensus” would be considered a change in cross-strait “status quo” — despite Tsai’s pledge to maintain it — the majority of the respondents across party lines seem to side with Tsai.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Survey results showed that 55.1 percent of the respondents consider it maintaining the “status quo” if Tsai continued to push for cross-strait exchanges under the ROC Constitution and 27.1 percent said they would consider Tsai’s refusal to recognize the “1992 consensus” as changing the “status quo.”
As many as 50 percent of the respondents who identified themselves as pan-blue supporters said they agree with Tsai; the ratio increased to 61.2 percent among pan-green supporters, while 54.3 percent of the respondents who identified themselves as neutral said they support Tsai’s idea.
The survey also showed Tsai is overwhelmingly trusted by the respondents compared with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese president Xi Jinping (習近平).
According to the survey, 55 percent of the respondents said they trust Tsai, 26 percent said they do not trust her, 26 percent said they trust Ma and 16 percent said they trust Xi.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to