A public opinion survey released today by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) shows that nearly sixty percent (58.5%) of the people surveyed agree that the government should take a guiding role in conducting cross-strait negotiations to protect Taiwan’s overall interests. Moreover, in the process of cross-strait negotiations, China often demands that Taiwan accept the people or organizations appointed by Beijing to represent Taiwan. A total of 76.2 percent of the public believe that China’s demands are unreasonable, and 51.5 percent of the people do not believe that China has sincerity in holding talks with Taiwan.
MAC indicated that as high as 81.4 percent of the people agree that when Taiwan’s political parties engage in exchanges with China, they should not only abide by government regulations but also prioritize the protection of the overall interests of Taiwan. About 56.3 percent of the public agree that “the government should take strict management measures in dealing with cross-strait social exchanges since cross-strait relations are ‘special.’”
MAC further indicated that in the public opinion survey conducted this time, 63.1 percent of those surveyed believe that China’s military expansion has caused a threat to Taiwan and other neighboring countries. The public has expressed strong agreement (87.7 percent) with the government’s plan to promote the establishment of a Peace and Stability Framework for Cross-strait Interactions in the future. Moreover, approximately 64 percent (63.6%) of those surveyed are in favor of President Chen Shui-bian’s proposal to convene a nationwide political party leaders’ summit to consolidate the views and consensus among Taiwan’s political parties on the development of cross-strait relations. As for the Taiwanese people’s views on the issue of “unification vs. independence,” the majority (84.8 percent) of the public still agree to maintain the status quo. Regarding this issue, there were no significant variations in the result compared to previous surveys.
MAC commissioned the Election Study Center of the National Chengchi University to conduct telephone survey of Taiwanese adults over the age of twenty from August 26 to 28, 2005. A total of 1,096 valid samples were collected. With a 95 percent reliability, sampling error is approximately 2.96 percent.