Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition recently reported that the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation’s latest poll results showed that more than 70 percent of Taiwanese people surveyed oppose cross-strait reunification with Mainland China. Around 67 percent of the respondents opposed the idea of a “cross-strait community with a shared future (relationship established by blood)”, and 76.5 percent opposed China’s proposed “unification of the motherland.” Compared with the same survey six years ago, the opponents of these two options increased by 4.9 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively. The Foundation expressed that Taiwanese people’s feelings towards China are currently in an “extremely cold” state.
The foundation’s chairman said that “the vast majority of Taiwanese people are extremely disgusted with the Chinese Communist Party. This phenomenon crosses the boundaries of political parties, generations, genders, education backgrounds, provincial ethnic groups, social classes and geographical regions.”
Chosun Ilbo reported that a 1996 survey showed that 44.8 percent of Taiwan residents supported cross-strait reunification at the time.
Many analysts believe that, given such negative sentiment among Taiwanese people, China will increase military pressure across the Taiwan Strait in order to maintain its influence over Taiwan. Meanwhile Taiwan will likely avoid provoking China in the short term.
It is reported that President Lai Ching Te will visit Central and South America in early September but has canceled his original plan to visit the United States during that trip.
Source: RFI Chinese, August 28, 2024
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