More than 60 percent of the respondents to a survey said that “Mainland China” should no longer be designated as the nation’s territory if the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution is amended, the Taiwan Indicators Survey Research said on Thursday.
While amendments to the ROC Constitution considers China, called the “Mainland Area,” and Taiwan, called the “Taiwan Area,” as territories of the ROC, a majority of the respondents said they disagree with the amendments.
According to the results of the survey, 63.5 percent of the respondents said that if the Constitution is to be amended again, clauses stipulating the “Mainland Area” as ROC territory should be removed and 19.8 percent said that it should continue to be designated as territory of the ROC, while 16.6 percent declined to answer the question.
An analysis of the survey results showed that there might also be a generation gap over the issue of whether the “Mainland Area” should continue to be ROC territory, with support for removing the related clause increasing among younger people.
While China repeatedly asks president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to recognize the so-called “1992 consensus” and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office director Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) says that Tsai’s refusal to recognize the “consensus” would be considered a change in cross-strait “status quo” — despite Tsai’s pledge to maintain it — the majority of the respondents across party lines seem to side with Tsai.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Survey results showed that 55.1 percent of the respondents consider it maintaining the “status quo” if Tsai continued to push for cross-strait exchanges under the ROC Constitution and 27.1 percent said they would consider Tsai’s refusal to recognize the “1992 consensus” as changing the “status quo.”
As many as 50 percent of the respondents who identified themselves as pan-blue supporters said they agree with Tsai; the ratio increased to 61.2 percent among pan-green supporters, while 54.3 percent of the respondents who identified themselves as neutral said they support Tsai’s idea.
The survey also showed Tsai is overwhelmingly trusted by the respondents compared with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese president Xi Jinping (習近平).
According to the survey, 55 percent of the respondents said they trust Tsai, 26 percent said they do not trust her, 26 percent said they trust Ma and 16 percent said they trust Xi.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS