TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The public resolutely opposes threats of military force from China as well as attempts by Beijing to annex Taiwan, according to an opinion poll published by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Thursday (Oct. 26).
The Election Study Center at National Chengchi University conducted the third survey of the year on behalf of MAC from Oct. 19-23. It collected 1,077 valid samples with a margin of error of 2.99%.
The majority of respondents opposed the increasingly aggressive behavior of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's (習近平) government against Taiwan, the poll found. Repeated incursions by Chinese military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) met with 88.1% disapproval, while China’s “one country, two system” formula faced rejection by 85.3%.
There was a 78.9% support rate for the government’s efforts to diversify markets away from China. There was also 89.6% in favor of Taiwan maintaining the defense of its territory, sovereignty, and democracy.
Also, 86.2% expressed support for holding on to the status quo, and 83.7% agreed that the future of the country should be decided by its citizens. China was seen as unfriendly to Taiwan’s government by 68.8% of respondents, and unfriendly to Taiwanese people by 52.6%, MAC said.