December 14, 2012
No. 104
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced today (December 14, 2012) the results of its latest routine public opinion survey. About 70% (70.9%) of the public support the government's continued handling of cross-strait exchange issues through institutionalized negotiations. Moreover, nearly 60% (57.2%) of the public support the government's approach in promoting cross-strait negotiations of focusing first on economic issues and discussing political issues later. Furthermore, over 70% of the public support negotiations on issues related to trade in services at the next round of cross-strait talks.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the "1992 Consensus of one China with respective interpretations". The MAC stated that, on the issue of the "1992 Consensus", over half (55.5%) of the people polled identify with the government's policy position of "1992 Consensus of one China with respective interpretations, in which one China is the Republic of China". Additionally, 53.6% of the people approve the government's approach of promoting institutionalized cross-strait negotiations on the foundation of the "1992 Consensus of one China with respective interpretations", while over 70% support the government's continued handling of cross-strait exchange issues through institutionalized negotiations.
The MAC stated that the spirit of the "1992 Consensus of one China with respective interpretations" is "shelving disputes and conducting pragmatic negotiations". Over the past more than four years, this has not only laid the foundation for institutionalized cross-strait negotiations mechanisms, but also enabled the pragmatic resolution of various problems related to cross-strait economic and social exchanges and interactions. In the future, the government will continue to adhere to the principles of "putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people" and "dealing with easy issues before difficult ones, urgent matters before non-urgent ones, and economic matters before political ones". It will also prioritize negotiation issues conducive to national development and beneficial to improving the livelihood and well-being of the people, while at the same time, steadily promote and develop cross-strait exchanges and consultations so as to conform to the of public demands.
Regarding other routine cross-strait issues long observed by the MAC, the survey indicated that the great majority of the public (83.7%) still advocates "maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense", an opinion that has remained substantially stable. As for the current pace of cross-strait exchanges, the highest percentage of the public at 39.8%, believes it to be "just right", followed by the percentages believing the pace to be "too fast" and "too slow" at 31.7% and 17.8%, respectively.
The MAC commissioned the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University to conduct a telephone survey on adults aged 20 and over in the Taiwan Area from November 30 to December 3, 2012. A total of 1,070 valid samples were collected, with a sampling error of plus or minus 2.99% at a 95% level of confidence.