Nearly 70 percent of respondents said that China poses a great threat to the nation, while 76.7 percent said the US is more globally influential than China, a poll by the Association of Chinese Elite Leadership showed yesterday.
The poll found that 69 percent of respondents think China greatly threatens Taiwan, and when asked whether cross-strait interaction should be predicated on accepting China’s “one country, two systems” framework, the so-called “1992 consensus” or other similar concepts, respondents disagreed at 74.4 percent, 48.7 percent and 85.9 percent respectively.
The “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Photo: Tian Yu-hua, Taipei Times
When asked to rank opinions toward the US and China on a scale of one to 10 — with one being the lowest and 10 being the highest — the average rating toward the US stood at 5.7 percent, whereas China scored 3.7.
When asked which among the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party could best protect Taiwanese sovereignty, 41.8 percent of respondents chose the DPP, 23 percent chose the KMT and 10.6 percent chose the Taiwan People’s Party, the poll showed.
Association secretary-general Wang Chih-sheng (王智盛) said the poll suggested that people aged under 40 prioritize Taiwan-US relations over cross-strait relations, while those older than 50 place more emphasis on cross-strait relations.
The CCP should know that Taiwanese consider sovereignty more important than the political ideologies touted by the KMT and the DPP, National Taiwan Normal University professor Fan Shih-ping (范世平) said.
The CCP’s “one country, two systems” formula has no adherents in Taiwan, Fan said, adding that most Taiwanese believe that maintaining distant, but friendly relations with China is sufficient.
The poll was conducted by telephone on Wednesday and Thursday, targeting people aged 20 or older. It received 1,035 valid responses and claimed a margin of error of 3.05 percentage points.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
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