February 25, 2014
Mac News Release No. 025
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today (February 25, 2014) announced results of its latest special survey on the "Public's Views on Cross-Strait Official Interactions and Cross-Strait Relations." The survey indicated that more than 60% of the public affirm MAC Minister Wang Yu-chi's first visit to the Mainland in an official capacity and the holding of the meeting between heads of cross-strait competent authorities, The survey also pointed out that the said developments were conducive to direct interaction between officials across the Taiwan Strait (65.1%) and also to the future development of cross-strait relations (61%).
The poll results also indicated that the vast majority of the public believe the first meeting between heads of cross-strait competent authorities to be a major breakthrough in official cross-strait interactions (51%) and approve of continuously holding such meetings (67.1%). Moreover, 63.1% people affirmed that the establishment of routine communication mechanism between the MAC and the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) to be helpful to the handling of cross-strait affairs. The MAC stated that, in the future, it would use this mechanism and channel to efficiently communicate with the other side, pragmatically handle major issues related to cross-strait interactions, and enhance the benefits of cross-strait exchanges and well-being of the people. Furthermore, 73.8% of the surveyed expressed satisfaction over the Mainland's pledge to substantively implement health coverage for Taiwanese students in the Mainland.
In addition, the great majority of the public agreed that Minister Wang’s visit to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing to hold a memorial service for Dr. Sun highlighted the reality of the Republic of China’s existence (71.5%). The majority (70.7%) also approved of Minister Wang sharing Taiwan's achievements in freedom and democracy and calling for the reciprocal flow of news information across the Strait during his visit to Nanjing and Shanghai. Moreover, the survey showed that the majority of the public approve the government's arrangements for the TAO Director to visit Taiwan under the principle of reciprocity and dignity (70.4%), and feel that for the TAO Director to experience the pluralistic values in free and democratic Taiwan would be conducive to benign developments across the Strait (64.2%). Minister Wang’s first visit to the Mainland and the successful conclusion of the meeting between heads of cross-strait competent authorities is an important milestone in the progress of cross-strait relations, and has received a 50% satisfaction rate from the overall surveyed public. The MAC also pointed out that, on the basis of this survey, it would continue to promote the normalization of official cross-strait interactions in the future so as to facilitate long-term development of cross-strait institutionalized relations and promote sustainable peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Regarding the holding of the second Cross-strait Agreement Result and Review Meeting by the SEF and the ARATS on February 21 in Changsha of Hunan, the poll results indicated that 61.7% of the public feel that the regular holding of this meeting would be conducive to the implementation and execution of cross-strait agreements. As for the "Tenth Round of Cross-Strait High-Level Talks" held on February 26 and 27, a majority of 60% to 70% of the surveyed public expressed support for negotiation issues concerning "cross-strait meteorological cooperation" (67.9%) and "earthquake monitoring cooperation."
The MAC commissioned Taiwan Real Survey Co., Ltd. to conduct a telephone survey of adults aged 20 and over in the Taiwan Area from February 20 to 22, 2014. A total of 1,068 effective samples were collected, with a sampling error of 3% based on a 95% confidence level.g, Vice Chairman Li Yafei and other personnel of the ARATS.