With China recently conducting large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, public perception that Beijing is hostile to the government and people of Taiwan has soared to 20-year highs, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
A survey commissioned by the council showed that 80.8 percent of respondents said Beijing is hostile to the Taiwanese government and 66.6 percent said it is hostile to Taiwanese, MAC Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said.
Asked about China’s military activities, 88.3 percent of respondents condemned Beijng’s live-fire missile tests and sea and air drills, and 88.7 percent slammed Chinese cyberattacks and fake news targeting Taiwan, he said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
In a show of support for the government, 80.3 percent backed President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) call on Beijing to immediately cease its provocative actions and 82.6 percent agreed with the Tsai administration’s line to neither provoke nor concede to China.
Additionally, 82.3 percent agreed that Taiwan should prevent Chinese aggression by standing in solidarity with the international community, and 82.6 percent opposed Beijing’s bans on Taiwanese agricultural exports and natural sand imports, the survey showed.
Furthermore, 76.2 percent of respondents rejected Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is a part of China, and 77.7 percent backed Taipei’s stance that Taiwan and China are independent and mutually non-subordinate sovereign nations, it showed.
Beijing’s latest white paper promoting “reunification” under the “one country, two systems” framework was unacceptable to 84.7 percent of respondents, and 77.8 percent opposed China’s sanctions against so-called “separatist” individuals, groups and companies in Taiwan, the poll showed.
According to the poll, 86.1 percent of the public wants to keep a “broadly defined status quo” and 84.7 percent said only Taiwanese have the right to decide the future of Taiwan.
The MAC condemns China’s recent actions as harmful to peace and stability in the region, and a challenge to the international order, Chiu said.
Taiwan will make no concessions under pressure and instead will look to bolstering its defensive capabilities, he added.
The survey was conducted by National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center from Wednesday last week to Sunday by landline. A total of 1,076 valid samples were collected with a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.
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