More than three-quarters of Taiwanese want dialogue with mainland China on equal basis, poll shows
More than 75% of Taiwanese people believe that their government should engage in meaningful dialogue with mainland China on the basis of equality, according to a recent poll.
The poll conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed that 78.5% of respondents agreed with the view that “if the Beijing authorities intend to defuse tension, Taiwan should be willing to facilitate meaningful dialogue on the basis of mutual respect.”
The people of Taiwan have a great willingness to resume dialogue without preconditions, and the Beijing authorities should reflect on that, said APEIA secretary-general Wang Zhin-sheng. Support for President Tsai Ing-wen’s proposals for orderly exchanges was high amongst backers of both the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party.
The poll did not mention having the 1992 Consensus as a precondition, Wang said, because previous polls showed it was an unrecognized consensus.
The 1992 Consensus refers to an understanding where both Taiwan and mainland China acknowledge that there is only one China, but agree to differ on which government represents that one China. Beijing has often insisted that dialogue with Taiwan can only proceed with this consensus as a precondition.
The poll also showed that 61.3% of respondents agreed with the view that the proposed reforms to Hong Kong’s electoral system, currently being deliberated on during the “two sessions” in Beijing, damages “one country, two systems.”
The cross-strait relationship and the Hong Kong issue affect each other, and the Beijing authorities’ handling of the Hong Kong issue will cause Taiwanese people to doubt Beijing’s promises, said Chen Kuan-ting, CEO of the Taiwan NextGen Foundation.
Chen said that this meant Beijing should not politically coerce the people of Taiwan and should not seek dialogue without the principle of equal dignity, because “this is obviously not what the Taiwanese government and its people hope for.”
The poll also showed that 64.2% of respondents believed that mainland China was to blame for imposing import restrictions on Taiwanese pineapples.
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