Nearly 60 percent of young Taiwanese support independence as national identity is becoming increasingly divided along generational lines, a survey released yesterday by the Chinese-language CommonWealth Magazine (天下雜誌) showed.
Taiwanese are the most divided they have ever been over the issue of independence and national identity, the survey said.
Among respondents aged 30 or younger, nearly 60 percent said they choose independence, while more than 60 percent of those aged 40 or older said they preferred maintaining the “status quo,” the survey said.
Overall, those who favored keeping the “status quo” remained in the majority, although those who support unification with China dropped to 5.5 percent, the lowest proportion since the magazine began the surveys in 2002.
Among those in their 20s, 58.5 percent said they support Taiwanese independence, the survey said.
Asked which name better represents the nation, most of those aged 40 or older said “the Republic of China,” while the majority of those in their 20s and 30s prefered “Taiwan.”
Asked if they identify themselves as Taiwanese, Chinese or both, 61.9 percent said Taiwanese, 28. 3 percent said both and 6.5 percent said Chinese.
The results were similar in the other age brackets, except for respondents in their 20s, among whom 82.4 percent self-identified as Taiwanese, the survey showed.
Across generations, the only consensus appeared to be a shared opposition to Beijing’s “one country, two systems” proposal, the survey showed. Ninety percent of respondents said that “one country, two systems” cannot apply to Taiwan, while 2.8 percent said that it can.
The survey showed that Taiwanese have become more concerned about living in China.
Asked whether they would be willing to work in China, 28.8 percent of respondents said yes, compared with 40.3 percent in a similar survey earlier this year, while 58.6 percent said that they would not work there.
Regarding education across the Taiwan Strait, 67.8 percent said they would not let their children study in China, while 25 percent said they would, the survey showed.
Asked if they think a peace agreement with China would protect Taiwan, 63.4 percent said no, while 23.1 percent said yes, it showed.
The survey collected 1,073 valid samples via telephone interviews from Nov. 21 to Nov. 24. It has a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points. The result was weighted to fit a Taiwanese population profile.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS