More than 90 percent of Taiwanese support the government’s policy of maintaining the “status quo” of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to an opinion poll published by the Mainland Affairs Council on Wednesday.
The public opinion survey on President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inaugural speech and cross-strait issues showed 92.8 percent support for the government’s stance of safeguarding existing peace and stability between Taiwan and China.
The survey also found that 74.4 percent of people agree with Tsai’s position that cross-strait affairs should be managed on the basis of the Republic of China Constitution, the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), and other laws.
Meanwhile, 74.6 percent of people support Tsai’s statement that she respects the historical fact of a 1992 meeting between Taiwan and China during which they reached a common understanding, according to the poll.
It showed that 85 percent of people think both sides should maintain the current exchange mechanism for communication and dialogue.
Nearly 91 percent said the government should pursue cross-strait relations based on the principles of democracy and the will of the people, according to the poll.
It found that 83.4 percent of Taiwanese would like to see the enactment of a law specifically to govern cross-strait agreements, while nearly 80 percent think that negotiations on a stalled cross-strait trade-in-goods service agreement should be held under the terms of such a bill.
More than 80 percent of people also said they would like to see Taiwan and China discussing joint participation in regional development and seek all means of cooperation, the poll showed.
Nearly 80 percent of people think Taiwan’s international space should not be affected by changes in cross-strait relations, the survey showed.
The survey, commissioned by the ministry, was conducted by Taiwan Real Survey Co from Thursday to Saturday last week. It collected 1,084 valid samples and had a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of