More than 90 percent of Taiwanese support the government’s policy of maintaining the “status quo” of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to an opinion poll published by the Mainland Affairs Council on Wednesday.
The public opinion survey on President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inaugural speech and cross-strait issues showed 92.8 percent support for the government’s stance of safeguarding existing peace and stability between Taiwan and China.
The survey also found that 74.4 percent of people agree with Tsai’s position that cross-strait affairs should be managed on the basis of the Republic of China Constitution, the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), and other laws.
Meanwhile, 74.6 percent of people support Tsai’s statement that she respects the historical fact of a 1992 meeting between Taiwan and China during which they reached a common understanding, according to the poll.
It showed that 85 percent of people think both sides should maintain the current exchange mechanism for communication and dialogue.
Nearly 91 percent said the government should pursue cross-strait relations based on the principles of democracy and the will of the people, according to the poll.
It found that 83.4 percent of Taiwanese would like to see the enactment of a law specifically to govern cross-strait agreements, while nearly 80 percent think that negotiations on a stalled cross-strait trade-in-goods service agreement should be held under the terms of such a bill.
More than 80 percent of people also said they would like to see Taiwan and China discussing joint participation in regional development and seek all means of cooperation, the poll showed.
Nearly 80 percent of people think Taiwan’s international space should not be affected by changes in cross-strait relations, the survey showed.
The survey, commissioned by the ministry, was conducted by Taiwan Real Survey Co from Thursday to Saturday last week. It collected 1,084 valid samples and had a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
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