MAC public opinion survey: The public strongly support the government's efforts to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan
According to the results of the most recent public opinion survey conducted by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), with regard to Taiwan’s bid to join the United States (UN), the vast majority of the public in Taiwan (75.8 percent) agree that the government should continue to actively promote Taiwan’s UN bid, with 70.5 percent advocating that Taiwan should seek UN membership under the name of Taiwan.
Taiwan's bid to join the UN has failed 14 times due to obstruction from China. Each time, the Chinese authorities have announced afterwards that, "As a part of China, Taiwan is not qualified under any name or in any way to join the UN, which is composed of sovereign states." The MAC's most recent public opinion survey also indicates that 85.2 percent of the public disapprove this statement by China. Furthermore, when asked if the development of diplomatic relations will create tensions in cross-strait relations, 66.3 percent of those interviewed agree that the government should continue to develop diplomatic relations with other countries.
The public opinion survey regularly conducted by the MAC also indicates that with regard to the pace of the government’s opening up of civilian exchanges across the Strait, 36.2 percent of the public believe that the pace is "just right," 26.2 percent believe it is "too fast" and 25.1 percent believe it is "too slow." On the issue of direct cross-strait transportation links, 75.6 percent of the public believe that such links should "be opened conditionally," while only 15.3 percent of the respondents believe they should "be opened unconditionally." The results are largely similar to those of previous surveys.
On the issue of unification vs. independence, the vast majority of the public (85.8 percent) advocate maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense. Moreover, 76.3 percent of the public disagree with China's stance on developing cross-strait relations under the "one country, two systems" formula. Both of these figures are consistent with the trends seen in the MAC’s previous public opinion surveys.
The public opinion survey was conducted between September 15 and 17, 2006 by the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University under the authorization of the MAC. The results of the survey were based on telephone interviews of adults over 20 years old in the Taiwan Area. A total of 1,068 effective samples were collected, with a sampling error of about 3 percent based on a 95 percent confidence level.
Summarized Results of Public Opinion Survey
(Sept 15 to 17, 2006)
"The Public’s View on Current Cross-Strait Relations"
▇75.8 percent of the public agree that the government should continue to actively promote Taiwan’s bid to join the UN; and 70.5 percent of the public agree that Taiwan should apply for UN membership under the name of "Taiwan."
▇85.2 percent of the public disagree with China's statement that, “As a part of China, Taiwan is not qualified under any name or in any way to join the UN, which is composed of sovereign states.”
▇On the issue of direct cross-strait transportation links, 75.6 percent of the public believe the government should “conditionally” open such links, while only 15.3 percent believe such links should be opened “unconditionally”.
▇Regarding the pace of the government’s opening up of cross-strait civilian exchanges, 36.2 percent of the public believe the pace is "just right," 26.2 percent believe it is "too fast," and 25.1 percent believe it is "too slow."
▇The vast majority of the public (85.8 percent) still advocate maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense (including "maintaining the status quo and deciding on independence or unification later," "maintaining the status quo and unification later," "maintaining the status quo and independence later", and "maintaining the status quo indefinitely"). The results are consistent with the trends shown in previous surveys. Only a very small minority of people (1.8 percent) support unification as soon as possible. Similarly, the proportion advocating for declaration of independence as soon as possible only accounts for 5.8 percent.
I. Survey Background and Methods
In order to gain understanding of the public’s views on related issues concerning cross-strait relations, the MAC entrusted the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University to conduct a telephone survey of Taiwanese adults over the age of 20 from September 15 to September 17, 2006. A total of 1,068 effective samples were collected, with a sampling error of about 3 percent based on a 95 percent confidence level.
II. Major Findings
(1) Views on Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations
75.8 percent of the public agree that the government should continue to actively promote Taiwan’s bid to join the UN, and 70.5 percent agree that Taiwan should seek UN membership under the name of "Taiwan." Moreover, 85.2 percent of the public disagree with China's statement that, "As a part of China, Taiwan is not qualified under any name or in any way to join the UN, which is composed of sovereign states," while only 5.9 percent of the public agree with this statement.
(2) Views on cross-strait economic and trade relations
Regarding restrictions imposed by the government on China-bound investment by Taiwanese businesspeople, 50.4 percent of the public believe such limits should be "slightly tightened," while 35.3 percent believe they should be "slightly eased." The proportion of people advocating for “maintaining the status quo” is 3.8 percent. As compared with the results of the MAC’s survey conducted in April 2006, the proportion of the respondents advocating for "slightly easing" restrictions increases by 7.9 percentage points.
(3) Public perception of China’s hostility toward Taiwan
61.4 percent of the public believe that the Chinese authorities are unfriendly to the Taiwanese government (including 28 percent responding "extremely unfriendly" and 33.4 percent responding "unfriendly"). Moreover, 42.4 percent of the public believe the Chinese authorities are unfriendly to the Taiwanese people (including 15.8 percent responding "extremely unfriendly" and 26.6 percent responding "unfriendly"). The results are similar to those of the MAC’s survey conducted in April 2006.
(4) Views on direct cross-strait transportation links
On the issue of direct cross-strait transportation links, 75.6 percent of the public believe such links should "be opened conditionally," while only 15.3 percent believe they should "be opened unconditionally." The results are largely similar to those of the MAC's survey conducted in April 2006.
(5) Views on prioritization of diplomatic and cross-strait relations
On the issue of prioritization of developing diplomatic and cross-strait relations, 38.5 percent believe that it is "more important to develop relations with other countries," while 36.9 percent believe it is “more important to develop relations between Taiwan and China.” The proportion of people believing the two are of “equal importance” is 13.3 percent, a decrease by 5.8 percentage points as compared with the figure in the MAC's survey conducted in April 2006. Furthermore, when asked if the development of diplomatic relations will cause tensions in cross-strait relations, 66.3 percent of those interviewed agree that the government should continue to develop diplomatic relations with other countries, while 23.3 percent of the public disagree. The findings are consistent with the trends shown in previous surveys.
(6) Views on cross-strait exchanges
Regarding the pace of the government’s opening up of cross-strait civilian exchanges, 36.2 percent of the public believe the pace is "just right," 26.2 percent believe it is "too fast," and 25.1 percent believe it is "too slow." As compared with the results of the MAC's survey conducted in April 2006, the proportion of people responding "just right" increases by 5.6 percentage points; the proportion responding "too slow" decreases by 9.4 percentage points; and the proportion responding "too fast" increases by 6.3 percentage points.
(7) Views on unification vs. independence
The vast majority of the public (85.8 percent) still advocate maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense (including "maintaining the status quo and deciding on independence or unification later," "maintaining the status quo and unification later," "maintaining the status quo and independence later", and "maintaining the status quo indefinitely"). The results are consistent with the trends shown in previous surveys.
Of the six possible positions on this issue, the largest number (39.6 percent) support "maintaining the status quo and deciding on independence or unification later," while 18.6 percent support "maintaining the status quo indefinitely." The results are largely similar to those in previous surveys. Furthermore, the proportion of people leaning towards independence (20.5 percent, including 5.8 percent for "independence as soon as possible" and 14.7 percent for "maintaining the status quo and independence later") is greater than the proportion leaning towards unification (14.7 percent, including 1.8 percent for "unification as soon as possible" and 12.9 percent for "maintaining the status quo and unification later").
(8) Views on China's "one country, two systems" formula
Regarding China’s stance on developing cross-strait relations under the "one country, two systems" formula, 76.3 percent of the public disapprove, while only 13.3 percent of the public agree. The results are consistent with those of previous public opinion surveys.