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People across Taiwan Strait become increasingly distant: poll

ROC Central News Agency

2007-11-28 18:55:09

    Taipei, Nov. 28 (CNA) The hearts and minds of people across the Taiwan Strait have become increasingly distant since the two sides began exchanges 20 years ago, according to results of a public opinion poll released Wednesday.

    The poll of 1,076 adults, conducted by the quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) , found that 55 percent of Taiwan's people do not have a good impression of their Chinese counterparts, while over 70 percent of respondents said they were not impressed with the Chinese communists, and only 33 percent said they maintain a good impression of the mainland Chinese citizens.

    According to SEF tallies, some 6.5 million Taiwan citizens have made 47.5 million-odd visits to China over the past 20 years since Taiwan opened the way Nov. 2, 1987 for military veterans to visit relatives in China.

    As many as 64.9 percent of respondents said they somewhat disagree or totally disagree with the notion proposed by Beijing authorities that "both Taiwan and mainland China belong to 'one China' and the two share a common fate." Only 23.9 percent said that they agree with the notion, the poll found.

    As many as 75.6 percent of respondents said they completely object to Beijing's claim that "Taiwan's future should be determined by all the Chinese people, including the 1.3 billion Chinese living on the Chinese mainland," the poll found.

    The poll also found that 44.9 percent of respondents said Taiwan should move toward independence and 23 percent said they prefer to see the present cross-strait status quo maintained forever while 18.6 percent said they support unification of both sides.

    Should the status quo prove impossible to maintain, an even higher percentage -- 52 percent -- said they would favor Taiwan independence, 24.4 percent would favor cross-strait unification, while 11 percent would still favor the political status quo.

    Commenting on the latest poll results, SEF Secretary-General You Ying-lung, who doubles as vice chairman of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council, said that the hearts of the Chinese and the Taiwanese have increasingly drifted apart as the poll has found, mainly because Taiwan's citizens do not like China's despotic communist system.

    Chou Yang-shan, a professor with the Kinmen Institute of Technology, said the poll results indicate that the future of cross-strait relations have become increasingly dim. Factors contributing to the increasingly pessimistic outlook include the merciless attitude of Beijing's leadership and unwise moves on the part of Taiwan's administration, Chou added.

    For Taiwan and China, being on better terms presupposes that China first show goodwill towards Taiwan, he maintained.

    The poll, conducted by telephone Nov. 13-14, obtained 1,076 valid responses, with an error margin of 2.99 percent.

(By Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/jnc