About two-thirds of Taiwanese do not identify as Chinese, a survey released on Tuesday showed.
The US-based Pew Research Center found that 66 percent view themselves as Taiwanese, 28 percent as both Taiwanese and Chinese ,and 4 percent as just Chinese.
The telephone poll of 1,562 people, conducted last year, has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.
Photo: AFP
The results are consistent with other polls showing that people in Taiwan increasingly identify only as Taiwanese, Pew said.
Younger generations in particular have developed a distinct identity, with 83 percent of respondents younger than 30 saying that they do not consider themselves Chinese, the survey showed.
Alexander Huang (黃介正), an associate professor in Tamkang University’s Department of Diplomacy and International Relations, said that it is a question of politics, not ethnic background.
Younger Taiwanese grew up in a democracy, while China is a one-party state, he said.
Another factor, is the diplomatic pressure that China puts on Taiwan and the military exercises it conducts in Taiwan’s vicinity, Huang said.
“We are ethnic Chinese for sure, but politically, I think that’s the big difference,” he said. “It is quite understandable that people don’t want to be identified as Chinese.”
In addition, about 2.3 percent of Taiwanese are members of indigenous groups not ethnically Chinese.
The Pew survey found that about 60 percent of Taiwanese have an unfavorable view of China. While 52 percent support closer economic ties with China, only 36 percent favor closer political ties.
Conversely, more than two-thirds have a favorable view of the US, with 79 percent supporting closer political ties.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS