More than half of respondents support the establishment of an office to assist Hong Kongers affected by the National Security Law that China imposed on the territory, a survey released on Thursday by the Mainland Affairs Council showed.
The survey, conducted from Wednesday last week to Monday, showed that 54.5 percent of respondents backed the establishment last month of the Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchanges Office.
Only 33 percent disagreed with the move, while 12.5 percent were undecided, the survey showed.
The office, which on July 1 began operations under the council’s control, is tasked with helping Hong Kongers who want to study, work, invest or settle in Taiwan.
Beijing on June 30 imposed the legislation on Hong Kong, which criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Article 38 of the law states that it applies to anyone who commits such offenses regarding Hong Kong, including those who are not permanent residents in the special administrative region.
The survey showed that 84 percent of respondents objected to Beijing’s attempt to sanction acts outside of its jurisdiction.
It showed that 84.9 percent were against the law’s Article 43, which requires agents or political organizations of foreign countries to provide information on activities concerning Hong Kong to authorities in the territory.
The survey found that 79.8 percent opposed the Hong Kong government’s political terms for issuing visas to Taiwanese officials assigned to Hong Kong, such as requiring them to state their recognition of Taiwan as part of China.
Most respondents said that the Chinese government has destroyed the “one country, two systems” model and harmed cross-strait relations with its actions, the survey showed.
The council urged Beijing not to misinterpret or alter the status of cross-strait relations and stir conflict.
The survey was conducted by National Chengchi University on behalf of the council. It gathered 1,071 valid questionnaires from people aged 20 or older and had a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
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