More Hong Kong residents have become supportive of Taiwan’s efforts to rejoin the UN and fewer are now identifying as Chinese since Beijing authorities blocked imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) from accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, a new poll found.
A Hong Kong University poll conducted earlier this month found that 42 percent of the territory’s residents backed Taiwan’s bid to become a UN member, a 5 percent increase from similar polls in September.
The increase in support for Taiwan’s efforts could have resulted from China’s refusal to free Liu from prison to attend the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Norway, said Robert Chung (鍾庭耀), director of the university’s Public Opinion Program.
The poll also found that 63 percent of respondents now consider themselves “Hong Kongers” rather than “Chinese,” compared to 57 percent six months ago.
Thirty-five percent of respondents see themselves as either “Chinese in Hong Kong” or “Chinese,” a drop of 8 percentage points from a similar survey in June.
Chung said China’s treatment of Liu was most likely also responsible for the slide.
The good performance of Hong Kong’s team at the Guangzhou Asian Games last month and a hostage situation in the Philippines in August involving 15 tourists from Hong Kong could have contributed to the stronger sense of Hong Kong identity among residents, he said.
The telephone survey collected 1,000 valid samples.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party