Most people in Taiwan, 83.4 percent, do not want to alter the “status quo” between Taiwan and China, an opinion poll commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) published on Thursday found.
Of the respondents who wished to keep the “status quo,” 31.1 percent believed in being able to make decisions on cross-strait relations in the future, while 22.3 percent wished to keep the situation the way it is indefinitely.
Sixteen percent of the respondents who wished to maintain the “status quo” want political integration between the two sides, while 14 percent support independence, the council said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The intensity of respondents’ desire for future political integration or independence was hard to calculate, as the term “future” could mean 50 years or 100, MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Chui Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said.
Of the respondents, 8.6 percent wanted Taiwan to declare independence as soon as possible, while 3.1 percent wanted political integration right away.
According to MAC records, the number of respondents who wanted Taiwan to declare independence as soon as possible and the number who wanted to keep the “status quo” with future political integration were the highest in 10 years.
Cross-Strait Policy Association secretary-general Wang Chih-sheng (王智盛) said that Beijing’s recent actions toward Taiwan have polarized society.
The survey was conducted by National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center from Oct. 24 to 28.
The poll collected 1,085 valid responses from adults older than 20 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.98 percentage points.
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