TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Results from a new poll show that 70.6% of respondents agree with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) statement that Taiwan’s Republic of China (ROC) and China’s People’s Republic of China (PRC) are “not subordinate to one another” (互不隸屬).
The survey, conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association (中華亞太菁英交流協會), also shows that 47.7% of respondents are satisfied with Tsai’s policy toward China. At the same time, 24.3% are unsatisfied, with 28% expressing no opinion, according to a CNA report.
The survey follows Tsai’s address on Taiwan’s National Double Ten Day on Sunday (Oct. 10), in which she laid out the four commitments that guide her government’s approach to cross-strait relations. These include:
- A commitment to a “free and democratic constitutional system”
- "The Republic of China and the People's Republic of China should not be subordinate to each other”
- To “resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty”
- "The future of the Republic of China (Taiwan) must be decided in accordance with the will of the Taiwanese people.”
It is the second commitment that has provoked the most controversy. Critics view this as an attempt to decouple Taiwan and China completely.
According to the poll, 67.9% of those surveyed said they support her four points, 12.3% saying they do not, and 19.8% were undecided.
After Tsai’s address, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office issued a harsh rebuke, saying Taiwan’s president was “advocating Taiwan independence,” “fragmenting history” and selling the “two-state theory.”
The survey showed only 19.4% of respondents agreed with this characterization, while the majority, 54.9%, did not agree. The remaining 25.7% did not know or declined to answer.
