Date: August 6, 2020
MAC Press Release No. 43
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today (August 6, 2020) announced the results of a routine public opinion survey. The results indicated that more than 80% of the public oppose the Hong Kong National Security Law imposed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its various impacts, including infringing democracy, freedom, and judicial independence in Hong Kong and undermining "one country, two systems" (80.9%); extending jurisdiction throughout the world (84%); and requiring political organizations and agents in Taiwan to provide information on Hong Kong-related activities (84.9%). In addition, nearly 80% of the public do not approve the Hong Kong government's addition of political conditions for issuance of visas to Taiwan officials in Hong Kong (79.8%). The MAC stated that the survey results underscore that the mainstream public in Taiwan believes that the Chinese authorities are undermining Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" and harming cross-Strait relations.
According to the survey results, nearly 90% of the public oppose mainland China's "one country, two systems" (88.8%). Over 90% oppose the CCP's threats of force (90.9%) and diplomatic pressuring (91.8%) against Taiwan. Over 70% of the public approve the government's completion of the five amendments to national security related laws and the passage of the Anti-infiltration Act, as well as its continued promotion on related legal amendments to improve the legal system to defend democracy (74.5%). More than 80% of the public support the government's position on building Taiwan's self-defense capabilities, refusing the "one country, two systems model for Taiwan," safeguarding the national sovereignty and Taiwan's democracy (82.4%), and advocating that cross-Strait exchanges should be handled according to laws and regulations on the basis of equality and dignity, without political preconditions (84.4%).
Regarding other issues long observed by the MAC, the great majority of the public continue to advocate "maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense" (86.1%), believe that the Chinese authorities' attitude towards the ROC government and people is unfriendly (75.4% and 60.5%, respectively), and agree that Taiwan's future and the development of cross-Strait relations must be decided by the 23 million people of Taiwan (88.1%), maintaining a long-term stable trend.
The MAC stressed that the CCP has long refused to renounce its threats to use force against Taiwan, as well as its saber rattling, united front infiltration, and other coercive actions against Taiwan to force our acceptance of its wrong and one-sided political views. These actions are the main source of harm to peace in the Taiwan Strait. The MAC called on the other side to not repeatedly misjudge the situation with intent to create conflict and change the status quo. The ROC government will firmly defend the nation's sovereignty and democratic system. The two sides should jointly resolve differences through positive interaction based on "peace, parity, democracy, and dialogue."
The MAC commissioned the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University to conduct a telephone survey of adults aged 20 and over in Taiwan from July 29 to August 3, 2020. A total of 1,071 valid samples were collected, with a sampling error of plus or minus 2.99% at a 95% level of confidence.