December 11, 2014
MAC News Release No. 107
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced the results of its latest poll of the "People's Views on Cross-Strait Issues" today (December 11, 2014). Results showed that the majority of the people agreed that the reiteration of promoting cross-strait relations on the "1992 Consensus" basis by the two sides during both the "Siew-Xi Meeting" and "Wang-Zhang Meeting" at the Beijing Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in November this year was conducive to peaceful and stable development across the Taiwan Strait (67.4%), identifies with the government's position on the "1992 Consensus" (53.4%), and that cross-strait relation has eased after the meeting (53%).
On these findings, the MAC stressed that the “1992 Consensus”,of “one China with respective interpretations,”under which“one China” refers to the Republic of China, has been the key to substantial improvement and progress in cross-strait relations over the past six years. In the future, the government will continue to seek progress amidst stability based on the 1992 Consensus, which is the greatest common denominator between the two sides, and continue to advance peaceful and stable development of cross-strait relations.
The poll also showed that 65% of the public believe that Leader Representative Vincent C. Siew's emphasis, at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting this year, on the importance of Taiwan's participation in regional economic integration is conducive to expanding Taiwan's international participation. The majority of the people believe the holding of the "Siew-Xi Meetings" at the APEC forum was conducive to enhancing cross-strait interaction in international settings (56.8%); and the people also support having cross-strait officials make meeting arrangements through institutionalized mechanisms (56.4%). Furthermore, the majority of the people support the government's long-standing position for and promotion of the President’s participation at the APEC as an Economic Leader (60.7%). Poll results also showed that, the majority of the people believe substantive participation in international organizations is more important (55.8%).
Regarding the "Wang-Zhang Meeting" held after the 2014 APEC meeting, nearly 70% of the public believe the pragmatic exchange of views on cross-strait issues between the two sides to be conducive to handling cross-strait affairs. As for the many results achieved during the "Wang-Zhang Meeting", the polls showed that a majority of the public support active promotion of the establishment of SEF-ARATS reciprocal institutions so as to provide high-quality services to the people on both sides (76.7%), believe the cross-strait agreement to actively promote the Trade in Goods Agreement will contribute to economic cooperation between the two sides(68.7%), support the start of preparatory work for joint research in regional economic integration participation (59.3%), and support the authorization to the SEF and the ARATS to conduct talks on Mainland tourist transits in Taiwan (59.8%).
The MAC stated that the government has started follow-up promotion work for agreements achieved at the “Wang-Zhang Meeting,”such as that for future negotiations, Mainland tourist transits in Taiwan, and joint research on regional economic integration. The government will also strengthen the MAC-TAO liaison and communication platform, facilitate the efficiency of handling cross-strait affairs, and enhance the public's well-being.
The MAC commissioned Taiwan Real Survey Co., Ltd. to conduct a telephone survey of adults aged 20 and over in Taiwan from November 17 to 20, 2014. A total of 1,084 valid samples were collected, with a sampling error of plus or minus 2.98% at a 95% level of confidence.