Support for Taiwanese independence has spiked and most people do not fear that China would launch a military attack against the nation, the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation said at a news conference yesterday, citing a poll it conducted.
Among the people it surveyed, 54 percent said they support Taiwanese independence, 23.4 percent favored maintaining the “status quo,” 12.5 percent supported unification with China and about 10 percent gave no response or were unsure, the survey showed.
Of those who favored the “status quo,” 44.1 percent said they would back independence if pushed, 33.6 percent said they would continue to support the “status quo” and 22.3 percent said they would back unification, the survey showed.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Recalibrating the results using the breakdown of the “status quo” supporters showed that 64.4 percent of respondents ultimately supported Taiwanese independence, 7.9 percent backed the “status quo” and 17.8 percent favored unification with China, foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) said.
“In my research on public surveys on these issues over the past 30 years, this is the highest rate of support among Taiwanese for independence,” You said. “It is also the lowest figure for people supporting unification with China.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is an important factor pushing people to back independence, he said, adding: “I don’t know any other reasonable explanation for the results.”
Respondents were asked about Beijing having reiterated its resolve to invade Taiwan to deter movement toward independence and other threats, including Chinese aircraft intruding into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
Forty-three percent of respondents said they were afraid that China would attack Taiwan, while 55 percent said they are not concerned.
“Overall, 55 percent of people said that they do not fear that China would launch a military attack against Taiwan,” Taiwan Association for China Human Rights chairman Yang Sen-hong (楊憲宏) said. “This majority are courageous Taiwanese and the result is an interesting development.”
Asked about China approving national security legislation for Hong Kong and the British government proposing to permit 3 million Hong Kongers to apply for UK citizenship, 41.5 percent of respondents said that Taipei should follow London’s lead, while 50.5 percent said that the rules for Hong Kongers being granted Republic of China citizenship should not change.
Thirty-three percent said that the Council of Grand Justices’ Constitutional Interpretation No. 791, which effectively decriminalized adultery, was a good decision, while 60 percent disagreed with the ruling.
The poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday last week among Taiwanese aged at least 20, collecting 1,074 valid responses. It has a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric