Date: October 24, 2019
MAC Press Release No. 94
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today (October 24, 2019) announced the results of the routine public opinion survey. The survey indicated that nearly 90% of the respondents disapprove the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) "one country, two systems" initiative (89.3%) and oppose its saber-rattling against Taiwan (89.3%). Moreover, 80% of the respondents disagree with the CCP's recent poaching of Taiwan's diplomatic allies and obstruction of Taiwan's participation in the international arena (80.1%). Opposition to "one country, two systems" in Taiwan rose by 13.9 percentage points from 75.4% since the CCP laid out the “Xi’s five-point" in January this year. The percentage of the respondents considering that the CCP authorities are unfriendly towards the Republic of China (ROC) government and the people of Taiwan also rose to recent highs of 69.4% and 54.6%, respectively.
The public opinion highly affirmed the firm stance, emphasized in President Tsai's 2019 National Day Address, of safeguarding Taiwan and being united on the country's path forward. The survey showed mainstream public support the position that, when Taiwan's freedom and democracy are challenged, and when the ROC’s existence and development are threatened, the people of Taiwan must stand up and defend themselves (69.8%). The respondents also approve of the policy that Taiwan will not act provocatively or rashly, rather will work with like-minded countries to ensure the peaceful and stable cross-Strait status quo (76.5%). In addition, 65.8% of the respondents stand by the view that the overwhelming consensus among the Taiwanese people, regardless of party affiliation or political position, is the rejection of the "one country, two systems" (65.8%). Furthermore, the respondents believe that Taiwan's future path is to unite under the banner of freedom and democracy, to defend sovereignty, to build a stronger Taiwan, and to actively engage with the world (84.6%).
The survey also showed that over 70% of the respondents support the government's approach of enhancing Taiwan's self-defenses, refusing the "one country, two systems model for Taiwan," and safeguarding national sovereignty and Taiwan's democracy (77.5%). More than 60% of the respondents approve the government's actions taken to progressively improve the "security network for democracy" (62.1%).
On the other hand, with regard to the recent situation in Hong Kong, more than 50% of the respondents agree that the CCP has not lived up to its commitment to the "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong (54.8%), and over 70% support the government's call for the Hong Kong government to respond to demands of its people for freedom and democracy and promptly engage in dialogues (72%).
Other cross-Strait issues, long observed by the MAC, continue to maintain a stable trend with the great majority of the respondents advocate for "maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense" (87.4%) and agree that Taiwan's future and the development of cross-Strait relations must be decided by the 23 million people of Taiwan (89.3%).
The MAC stressed that the ROC is a sovereign state and that Taiwan has never been part of the People's Republic of China. This is the unchanging fact that no claim or action by the CCP can obscure. Since the outline of “Xi’s five-point" earlier this year, the CCP has steadily escalated political and military pressure to force Taiwan into accepting its "one country, two systems." However, the mainstream public in Taiwan has, in turn, sent out a very clear signal opposing such an initiative. The government will continue to promote a peaceful, rational, and non-provocative cross-Strait policy, yet we will never bow to pressure and threats. We also hope that the people of Taiwan will stay united and be aware of the CCP's schemes to annex Taiwan. At the same time, we call on the Beijing authorities to face up to the reality, cease their malicious suppression and refrain from polarizing and penetrating Taiwan’s society. Only then can cross-Strait relations return to the path of healthy development as soon as possible.
The MAC commissioned the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University to conduct a telephone survey of adults aged 20 and over in Taiwan from October 17 to 21, 2019. A total of 1,073 valid samples were collected, with a sampling error of ±2.99% and at a 95% confidence level.