March 22, 2013
No. 19
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today (March 22, 2013) announced the results of the latest routine public opinion survey. The survey polled the people's views on the recently heated issue of cross-strait media exchanges, with results indicating that nearly 80% (79.3%) of the public support continued cross-strait exchanges in mass communication fields such as television, movies, radio, and news to promote the cross-strait flow of information. Moreover, near 72% (71.9%) of the public agree that cross-strait media exchanges will enable Mainland reporters to personally experience Taiwan's free press environment. Furthermore, close to 70% (69.8%) of the public believe that the Mainland’s censorship on Taiwanese news websites has negative influences on the free flow of information across the Taiwan Strait.
The MAC stated that freedom of the press is a universal value respected by the international community, and that reciprocal exchanges and free flow of information are the most important factors in cross-strait media exchanges. Promoting the reciprocal flow of information across the Taiwan Strait has been included as an important policy focus under the "Golden Decade, Cross-Strait Peace" vision, and the government will continue to expand and deepen cross-strait interaction and exchanges in mass communication and news media fields, facilitate media reform, and advocate the concept of open information. The government will also work to improve the environment for news information exchanges so that people on both sides of the Strait may jointly enjoy benefits of the comprehensive free flow of information.
Regarding other cross-strait issues observed over the long term by the MAC, the survey indicated that the great majority of the public (86.1%) still are in favor of "maintaining the status quo defined in a broad sense," an opinion that has remained substantially stable. As for views on the current pace of cross-strait exchanges, 45.2% of the public believe it to be "just right," followed by the percentages believing the pace to be "too fast" and "too slow" at 31% and 13.2%, respectively. Furthermore, near 70% (68.7%) of the public support the government in continuous handling of cross-strait exchange issues through institutionalized negotiations.
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 March 7 to 10, 2013. A total of 1,085 valid samples were collected, with a sampling error of plus or minus 2.98% at a 95% level of confidence.