Despite China’s repeated attempts to force Taiwan’s incoming administration to accept the idea that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to “one China,” a survey released yesterday showed that most people reject the construction.
The survey, conducted by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research (TISR) on Thursday and Friday last week, sought to gauge Taiwanese perception of the notion that “both sides of the Strait belong to one China,” which is backed by both the Taipei and Beijing constitutions.
Article 11 of the Additional Articles of the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution states: “Rights and obligations between the people of the Chinese mainland area and those of the free area [Taiwan], and the disposition of other related affairs may be specified by law.”
In the preface to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Constitution, Taiwan is listed as part of the “sacred territory” of the PRC.
Asked about their opinions on the statement that “one China” refers to the PRC, an overwhelming majority, or 81.6 percent, of respondents opposed the concept, with only 9.2 percent accepting the notion.
Even if “one China” refers to the ROC, 60 percent of those polled still disliked the idea that both sides belong to “one China,” but the percentage of people willing to embrace the notion rose to 28.8 percent.
Respondents who identified themselves as pan-blue supporters appeared to be divided on the issue, as 54.3 percent of them welcomed the concept of both sides belonging to the ROC, but 39 percent found it insupportable, the poll showed.
A majority of pan-green respondents, or 81.8 percent, were negative toward the assertion, compared with 14.2 percent who thought otherwise, the survey showed.
The results showed that the degree of people’s dislike of the idea that both sides of the Strait belong to one China is inversely proportional to their age, regardless of whether “one China” refers to the PRC or the ROC.
Of those polled, 75.8 percent equated abiding by the ROC Constitution to maintenance of the cross-strait “status quo,” while 14.1 percent disagreed.
Public consensus still seems to be lacking with regard to China’s repeated insistence on setting president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) acceptance of the so-called “1992 consensus” and the notion of both sides belonging to “one China” as a precondition for continued cross-strait government and economic exchanges.
About 38 percent of respondents believed Tsai should not acknowledge the “1992 consensus” under such a condition, while 33.4 percent urged the incoming president to do so, the poll showed. Nearly 29 percent declined to express their opinions.
In addition to political affiliation, age also appears to be a key factor in debates on the issue.
Respondents aged between 20 and 39 tended to aspire to see Tsai shrug off the “1992 consensus,” while those in the 40 to 59 age group generally believed she should welcome the consensus, the survey indicated.
The “1992 consensus” 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 there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Former Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Su Chi (蘇起) has admitted that he made up the term in 2000.
The telephone-based poll collected 1,000 valid samples from Taiwanese aged 20 or older.
In related news, the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday published a survey it conducted to gauge ideas of national identity, in which a record high of 73 percent of people identified themselves as Taiwanese.
“Over the past two decades, the percentage of people who identified themselves as Taiwanese has climbed from 44 percent in 1996 to 55 percent in 2006, then to a record-high 73 percent in our latest poll,” the newspaper said.
The proportion of people identifying as Chinese hit a record-low of 11 percent, down from 20 percent in 2006 and 31 percent in 1996, the United Daily News poll suggested.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS