60% IN POLL DISAGREE WITH SOONG'S MAINLAND POLICY
Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) A recent poll showed that 60 percent of respondents disagree to the mainland China policy of James Soong, the independent presidential candidate for the election next March.
The survey, with a posted error margin of 6.97 percent, was conducted by the New Image public survey center from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2, interviewing 1,092 qualified voters in Taiwan in order to gauge public opinion on the mainland policies of the six presidential hopefuls.
Merely 21 percent of the people surveyed supported Soong's view that Beijing has shown goodwill toward Taiwan by proposing the idea of "peaceful reunification through a `one China, two systems' formula," and it is only that Taiwan has not noticed the goodwill.
Seventy-eight percent of those polled said they support the ruling Kuomintang presidential candidate Lien Chan's mainland policy that states Taiwan will adjust its defense strategy and opinions if the mainland demonstrates goodwill and respect.
On Chen Shui-bien's proposal of promoting active and cooperative exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in order to develop deeper mutual trust, 72.9 percent of the respondents registered their support.
Meanwhile 45.8 percent said they support independent candidate Hsu Hsin-liang's idea of opening the "three-links" with mainland China with no conditions attached.
Chen is the presidential candidate of Taiwan's largest opposition party -- the Democratic Progressive Party, which has introduced to Taiwan the concept of the "Third Way," a new political trend in several places around the world.
As to the New Party candidate Lee Ao's view that mainland China's "one China, two systems" formula is not a bad proposal, 74 percent of those polled expressed strong disapproval, while only 15 percent said they support Lee's argument.
Over 50 percent of the citizens polled expressed their opposition to the pro-Taiwan independence policy of Chen Pang-chen, presidential candidate of the Taiwan Independent Party, the survey showed.
Commenting on the survey, both Professor Pan Hsi-tang, an expert on mainland China affairs at Tamkang University, and Professor Lee Teng-ko of National Chengchi University indicated that the "one China, two systems" policy seems to have affected the popularity of some of the presidential hopefuls. (By Elizabeth Hsu)
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