MAC public opinion survey: 80 percent of the public support an agreement on "joint cross-strait crime-fighting"
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced on April 23, 2009 the results of a public opinion survey. The survey results indicate that about 80 percent (79.6 percent) of the public approve of the negotiation and signing of a cross-strait agreement on joint crime-fighting to resolve the issues of judicial investigation and expatriation of criminals. In addition, 60 percent of the public believe that the inclusion of economic and trade issues in the negotiations, including regular cross-strait flights, financial cooperation and Mainland investment in Taiwan, will be conducive to the normalization of cross-strait economic and trade development.
The Third Chiang-Chen Talks will be held this Sunday. To understand the Taiwan people's views on the talks and cross-strait relations, the MAC commissioned a polling organization to conduct a public opinion survey. The survey results indicate that the majority of the people support both sides of the Strait to negotiate on these topics. Support for negotiations on "joint cross-strait crime-fighting" is especially high, reaching 80 percent, while nearly 60 percent of the public have a positive assessment of negotiations on "regular flights" and "financial cooperation."
The survey also inquired about the public’s views on topics long observed by the MAC. Regarding people’s position on unification vs. independence, over 80 percent (84.7 percent) of the public advocate "maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense." Moreover, about 40 percent of the public believe the pace of cross-strait exchanges is just right, while about 30 percent believe it is too fast.
In addition, over half (53.2 percent) of the public believe that cross-strait relations today are "more relaxed" compared to a year ago. Over half of the public also expressed confidence in the government’s ability to maintain cross-strait peace and stability.
The MAC commissioned the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University to conduct a telephone survey of adults aged 20 and over in the Taiwan Area from April 17 to 20, 2009. A total of 1,132 effective samples were obtained, with a sampling error of about 2.91 percent based on a 95 percent confidence level.
Appendix Ι: Summarized Results of the Public Opinion Survey on Current Cross-Strait Relations(April 17~20, 2009)
Appendix ΙI: Percentage Distribution of the Routine Questionnaire Survey on "The Public's Views on Current Cross-Strait Relations"(April 17~20, 2009)