UDN survey finds cross-strait ties on steady track

2015/09/17

The people of Taiwan view the possibility of armed conflict with mainland China as unlikely given steady development in cross-strait ties over the past year, according to a poll released Sept. 16 by Taipei City-based United Daily News.

Conducted annually, the survey assesses Taipei-Beijing relations on a 10-point scale across the areas of diplomacy, military, politics, society, trade and economy. A score of 1-4 represents a friendly or mutually beneficial state; 5-6, stable; and 7-10, competitive or tense.

A total of 74 percent of respondents believe private sector exchanges are either booming or stable, while 21 percent see them as tense—roughly the same result from a year ago. The score of 5.3 is the best among the poll’s five areas.

Interactions between officials are viewed by 69 percent of respondents as either close or stable, with 21 percent thinking otherwise.

Unchanged from last year, 41 percent believe Taiwan and mainland China are competitors in trade and economic activity, while 32 percent see these relations as competitive and mutually beneficiary. Only 19 percent view such ties as more beneficial than competitive, slightly higher than the result of the 2014 survey.

Approximately 53 percent of respondents perceive Taipei and Beijing to be on friendly or stable military terms, with 37 percent maintaining there is tension between both sides. This reflects a steady trend in public opinion on this matter in recent years.

The biggest challenge is in diplomacy, with 47 percent of the opinion that Taiwan and mainland China are in a highly competitive relationship. Around 32 percent believe the situation is stabilizing, while 15 percent see it as calming down.

A record 55 percent were also shown as in favor of maintaining the status quo of no unification, no independence and no use of force based on the ROC Constitution. This figure is up from 47 percent a year ago.

The sixth edition of the poll was carried out Sept. 9-12 via telephone interviews and received valid responses from 1,042 individuals aged 20 and above nationwide. It has a 95 percent confidence level and an error margin of 3 percent.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=236683&ctNode=2194&mp=9)