August 16, 2018
MAC Press Release No. 52
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced the results of a routine public opinion survey on August 16, 2018. The survey indicated that the people of Taiwan will never identify with mainland China's recent intensification of political and military intimidation and diplomatic suppression against Taiwan. More than 80% of the public believe mainland China's use of political factors to cancel the 2019 East Asian Youth Games in Taichung City (82.4%) and demands that foreign airlines change the designation of Taiwan on their websites (85.2%) is not conducive to cross-Strait relations.
The MAC stated that nearly 70% of the public do not identify with Mainland China's repeatedly stressed position that "the two sides of Taiwan Strait belong to one China" is a political precondition to cross-Strait interaction and Taiwan's international participation (68.2%). Nearly 60% of the public believe that the Mainland's emphasis on "one family across the Taiwan Strait" while continuing to suppress Taiwan militarily and in diplomacy amounts to saying one thing but doing another (57.8%). The survey also found that nearly 70% of the public approve the government's continued efforts to win support in the international community for Taiwan's right to international participation in the face of Mainland China's long-term suppression of Taiwan's international space (68.6%).
The MAC indicated that more than 80% of the public support the government's position that cross-Strait related exchanges and activities should exclude politics, maintain equality and dignity, and comply with laws and regulations (82.5%); that the two sides should respect each other and resolve differences through communication and dialogue without preconditions (82.9%); and that Taiwan's future and the development of cross-Strait relations must be decided by the 23 million people of Taiwan (86.1%). More than 60% of the public support President Tsai Ing-wen's position that Taiwan will strive to maintain the status quo of cross-Strait peace and stability and make a greater contribution to a free and open Indo-Pacific region (61.1%). Regarding other cross-Strait issues long observed by the MAC, the MAC indicated that the great majority of the public continue to advocate "maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense" (85.8%), maintaining a stable long-term trend. As for views on the pace of cross-Strait exchanges, 35.1% of the public believe it to be "just right," followed by the percentages believing the pace to be "too fast" and "too slow" at 8.4% and 42.9% respectively.
The MAC stressed that Taiwan is an important member of the international community and a model of freedom and democracy in the region. It has always been a responsible party committed to maintaining the stability in the Taiwan Strait and region. The government will never yield to the deliberate negative actions taken by mainland China against Taiwan. It will firmly defend the sovereignty of the country, interests and well-being of the public and uphold Taiwan's democratic and free way of life. The future development of cross-Strait relations cannot be decided by one side alone. It requires both sides to pragmatically and objectively face each other. The MAC called on mainland China to face the reality of separate government across the Taiwan Strait, to respect public opinion in Taiwan, and to resolve differences through benign communication and dialogue to support improvement and breakthroughs in cross-Strait relations.
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 August 9 to 13. A total of 1,093 valid samples were collected, with a sampling error of 2.96% at a 95% confidence level. The survey results were weighted by the respondents' gender, age, education level, and region after testing sample representativeness.