MAC Press Release No. 017
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today (November 18, 2021) announced the results of a routine public opinion survey. The survey showed that around 80% of the public support the cross-Strait policy positions presented by President Tsai Ing-wen in her National Day Address. Specifically, the public agree that the "four commitments" are the greatest common denominator of the people of Taiwan (77.1%). The public also support the government's position that the statement "the Republic of China (ROC) and People's Republic of China (PRC) should not be subordinate to each other" depicts the objective reality and current cross-Strait status quo (77.7%). Meanwhile, the public side with the president's emphasis that neither our goodwill nor our commitments will change, and we will do our utmost to prevent the status quo from being unilaterally altered (80.3%); the public also approve the president’s willingness to have dialogue with the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to reduce miscalculation in each other’s handling of cross-Strait relations (82.8%). The MAC stressed that the president's address demonstrated the consistency of the government’s cross-Strait policy and has garnered support from the public opinion in Taiwan.
The MAC stated that the survey results further showed that nearly 90% of the public oppose the CCP's "one country, two systems" (85.6%). The public also disapprove of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft’s frequent and large-scale activity around Taiwan recently in an attempt to threaten Taiwan by force (88.0%). A similar percentage oppose the CCP's diplomatic suppression (89.8%) and obstruction of Taiwan's cooperation with the US and other countries (84.7%). Moreover, nearly 80% of the public oppose the CCP's recent blacklisting of Taiwanese officials as the so-called “Taiwan independence diehards,” upon whom they pledged to impose sanction in accordance with the law (78.3%). In addition, more than 80% of the public support the government's strengthening of Taiwan's self-defense capabilities to safeguard national sovereignty and Taiwan's democracy (84.7%). Nearly 90% of the public support the government's continued cooperation with the US, Japan, Europe, and other like-minded countries to ensure the peaceful and stable status quo in the Taiwan Strait (89.2%).
The MAC indicated that about 70% of the public support the government's draft amendment meant to tighten restrictions on travel to mainland China by those who possess or have access to national security related core technologies to protect Taiwan's national security related core technologies and prevent the CCP from poaching Taiwan's high-tech talent (70.6%). Regarding other issues long observed by the MAC, the great majority of the public continue to advocate "maintaining the status quo defined in a broader sense" (84.9%), believe the CCP authorities' attitude towards the ROC government (77.1%) and people (57.9%) is unfriendly, and agree that Taiwan's future and the development of cross-Strait relations must be decided by the 23 million people of Taiwan (85.4%), maintaining a long-term stable trend.
The MAC stressed that the "four commitments" presented by President Tsai are the bottom line and greatest common denominator of people in Taiwan. Maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait is the shared responsibility of both sides. Facing the CCP's incessant military intimidation and diplomatic suppression of Taiwan, the government stands firm in its position of defending national sovereignty, safeguarding Taiwan's democracy, and maintaining the peaceful and stable status quo across the Taiwan Strait. The government will continue to closely monitor the CCP's actions and respond with caution. The MAC called on the other side of the Taiwan Strait to stop imposing its political framework on and renounce its ill-intentioned actions against Taiwan; instead, it should respect the cross-Strait reality and public opinion in Taiwan, and handle cross-Strait relations pragmatically and rationally.
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 November 10 to 14, 2021. A total of 1,072 valid samples were obtained, with a sampling error of plus or minus 2.99% at a 95% level of confidence.