An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed.
Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity.
Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters, 56.1 percent of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) supporters and 47.9 percent of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters.
Asked whether the government should endorse the name change, 79.6 percent of respondents said it should, compared with 96.8 percent of DPP supporters, 65.8 percent of TPP supporters and 67.1 percent of KMT supporters, the poll showed.
Regarding Taiwan’s future sporting achievements, 88.1 percent of respondents, including 85 percent of people who said they support one of the nation’s three main political parties, said they were optimistic.
The survey results clearly show that sporting achievements and national identity are closely intertwined, can unite Taiwan and give a shared sense of pride, while bridging ideological differences across the Taiwan Strait, Foundation on East Asia Peace Studies chief executive officer Tung Li-wen (董立文) said.
The public’s interest in Taiwanese baseball would give the government some important considerations regarding its sports policies and instill confidence in President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposed establishment of a Ministry of Sports and Physical Education, Tung Li-wen said.
The survey also showed that 67.8 percent of respondents said they identified as Taiwanese, 1.5 percentage points higher than when the question was asked in June.
Asked to choose one identity, Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent said they identify as Taiwanese and 8.4 percent as Chinese, while 8.3 percent did not choose.
Additionally, 1.5 percent of respondents said they were only Chinese and 27.2 percent said they were both, it showed.
Regarding cross-strait relations, 41.5 percent of respondents said they were optimistic, a 2.7 percentage point increase; 41.3 percent said they were not optimistic, an 8.6 percentage point decrease; and 17.2 percent did not choose either one, the survey showed.
The increase in “Taiwanese” self-identification and decrease in “Chinese” self-identification could be interpreted as a sign of national identity consolidation, Tung said.
Regarding politics, 42 percent of respondents said they supported the DPP, compared with 18.5 percent for the KMT and 11.5 percent for the TPP, all of which showed slight decreases compared with the survey in June.
Fifty-three points two percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Lai’s performance, 26.7 percent said they were dissatisfied and 20.1 percent had no definite opinion, the survey showed.
The highest levels of satisfaction with Lai came from DPP voters, women, those aged 40 or older, and those who live in Tainan, and Yunlin and Chiayi counties.
Dissatisfaction was highest in Taoyuan, and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, and among men, 20 to 39 year olds, and those who possess specialized degrees, Taiwan Brain Trust chief executive officer Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) said.
Men, those aged 40 or older, people with college degrees and those who live in Taichung, and Nantou and Changhua counties all expressed higher levels of support for the KMT, he added.
The survey was conducted between Dec. 8 and Monday last week through telephone interviews, using a survey pool of people aged 20 or older. It collected 1,081 valid samples and had a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points.
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