MAJORITY PEOPLE FAVOR REFERENDUM WITHOUT CONSIDERING U.S. VIEW
2004-02-09 23:49:56
Taipei, Feb. 9 (CAN) More than half of the people polled in a recent survey said that Taiwan's holding of referendums should be no concern of the United States, a top official of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Monday.
The poll showed that 52 percent of the respondents believe that Taiwan's decision to hold a referendum should not have to consider the views of the United States, which has recently expressed serious concerns about the planned "peace referendum" scheduled for March 20, the same day as the presidential election, compared with 34 percent who said that U.S. opinion should be taken into consideration on the issue, MAC Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu said.
However, he noted, nearly half of the people polled in another survey are unclear about the content of the Referendum Law or are unable to say whether they are in favor of the law,
Liu said that the public are divided on whether referendums should be held on issues related to Taiwan independence or unification with mainland China, the writing of a new constitution, and demands that the mainland withdraw the missiles it has targeting Taiwan.
The views are contained in a comprehensive report and analysis of public opinion on mainland China policy and cross-strait relations in 2003.
Liu said that the report was based on 80 polls and surveys conducted and compiled by the MAC last year so as to find out public opinion about mainland China policy and cross-strait relations, and does not necessarily represent the MAC's stance.
He said that nearly 50 percent of those surveyed were not clear about the content of the Referendum Law or whether they approve of the law, while 28 percent said that the passing of the Referendum Law will have a negative impact on cross-strait relations, compared with 23 percent who said it will have a positive effect, and 14 percent who said it will have no effect.
Among the possible agendas to be put to referendum vote, apart from direct cross-strait trade, postal and transportation links, and one country, two systems issues -- where public opinion is clearer -- opinion on other issues, such as a referendum on independence vs. unification are very divided.
He said that on agreeing to Beijing's "one county, two systems" formula that would make Taiwan a local government under the rule of Beijing, with the Republic of China ceasing to exist, to resolve cross-strait issues, 70 percent of the people are opposed to the idea.
But when asked by other polls about the views of the formula without clearly defining its meaning, between 52 percent and 67 percent of the respondents said they disagreed or could not accept the idea, while between 17 percent and 35 percent agreed or accepted the idea.
On cross-strait talks, Liu said that 70 percent of those polled were in favor of a resumption of cross-strait talks on the principle of "one China, different interpretations."
On national identification, those who were in favor of "one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait" and those who gave different interpretations of the meaning of "one China" accounted for 30 percent each, showing the polarization of public opinion.
On the nation's name, 60 percent of the respondents were in favor of maintaining the name of the Republic of China without renaming the country Taiwan, while those in favor of changing the national name accounted for around 20 percent.
Given the option, however, between 46 percent and 56 percent preferred the name the Republic of China, while those in favor of "Taiwan" or "the Republic of Taiwan" were between 30 percent and 38 percent.
(By Lilian Wu)
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