MAC: Public opinion survey indicates public confidence in the government's ability to maintain cross-strait peace and stability
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) released the latest public opinion survey today. According to the survey, the majority of the Taiwan public not only believe that cross-strait relations have become more stable since the new government came into office, but they also affirm the government's ability to handle cross-strait relations. The survey results also indicated that over half of the public (50.6 percent) have confidence in the government's ability to maintain cross-strait peace and stability; and over half of the public (52.2 percent) believe that cross-strait relations have eased up as compared to a year ago.
Regarding the new government's efforts to relax cross-strait economic and trade policy, the majority of those surveyed support this policy direction. However, the majority of the public also advocate stricter management and steady promotion of related matters. The results of this survey indicated that 51 percent of the public hold supportive attitudes toward cross-strait economic and trade exchanges, while 65 percent of the public believe that the government should exercise stricter management in this regard. Furthermore, regarding the public’s views on the pace of opening up cross-strait civilian exchanges, the largest percentage (40.6 percent) believe the pace is just right, which is basically consistent with the results of other surveys over the past several months. However, the percentage of the public believing that the pace is too fast (29.5 percent) represents a slight increase as compared to a MAC survey conducted in March this year.
As high as 67 percent of the public agree that both sides across the Strait should stop diplomatic competition and jointly participate in the international community, and over half (51 percent) of the public believe that the development of cross-strait relations is complementary to the promotion of diplomatic relations with other countries. Regarding the arrangements for cross-strait negotiations, the survey indicated that 73 percent of the public agree that economic issues should be handled first and political issues should be discussed later. Regarding the importance of "emphasizing parity and dignity" and "seeking substantive benefits" in cross-strait negotiations, 51.6 percent of the people believe that both are equally important.
An overwhelming majority of the public (over 80 percent) still advocate "maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense" and oppose China's "one country, two systems" formula, which is basically consistent with the results of past surveys.
In order to understand the public’s latest views on cross-strait relations in the current phase, 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 August 22 to 24, 2008. A total of 1,094 effective samples were collected, with a sampling error of about 2.96 percent based on a 95 percent confidence level.