TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation released the results of a nationwide poll on Monday, tracking changes in public opinion regarding national identity.
The first question in the survey was, “Do you identify as Taiwanese or Chinese, or do you have a different view?"
The survey found that 76.1% identify as Taiwanese, 10.1% consider themselves Chinese, 9% consider themselves both Taiwanese and Chinese, 4.5% have no opinion, and 0.4% do not know or refuse to answer the question.
The survey was conducted between Dec. 9 and 11, with the target audience being adults over the age of 20 across the country, with the sampling method using both landline calls (70%) and mobile phones (30%) with a total of 1,083 responders and a sampling error of ±2.98% and a 95% confidence level.
Compared to a similar survey regarding the same topic conducted in June, there has been no noticeable change in Taiwanese national identity patterns, indicating adult citizens’ perception of identity is quite stable. Analysis of the two surveys finds that adult citizens who identified as Taiwanese decreased slightly by 0.7%, dual identity (Taiwanese and Chinese) fell by 0.5%, and Chinese identity increased by 3.5%.
A look at the data shows that of Taiwanese over the age of 20, 54.5% strongly identify as Taiwanese, 21.6% identify as moderately Taiwanese, 9% identify as dual, 6.6% identify as moderately Chinese, and 3.5% strongly identify as Chinese. In other words, 55% of people strongly identify as Taiwanese, but only 3.5% strongly identify as Chinese.
About different age groups, every age group shows the phenomenon that Taiwanese identity overwhelms Chinese identity, especially those aged 25-54, where more than 80% of respondents identified as Taiwanese.
As for different ethnic groups, regardless of whether they are Hoklo or Hakka, or from other Chinese provinces, more people identify with being Taiwanese. Among Hoklo, 81.8% identify as Taiwanese, 8.3% support dual identity, and 6.4% choose Chinese. Amongst Hakka, 67.6% identify as Taiwanese, 10.9% support dual identity, and 13.2% are Chinese. Amongst people from other provinces in China, 46.9% identify as Taiwanese, 12.8% support dual identity, and 31.8% identify as Chinese.
Among those with a college education or above, 76% identify as Taiwanese, 8.1% have dual identity, and 8.3% identify as Chinese. The data is nearly consistent with other levels of education, such as those from vocational schools and those with high school or junior high school education.
And finally, there was an obvious difference in the national identity between supporters of different political parties. Among DPP supporters, 96.8% identified as Taiwanese, 1.9% dual identification, and 0.9% Chinese; KMT supporters, 48.2% Taiwanese, 20.6% dual identification, and 26.7% Chinese; Taiwan People's Party supporters, 75.2% Taiwanese, 4.9% dual identity, and 15.3% Chinese; neutral voters, 70.7% Taiwanese, 10.6% dual identity, and 7.3% Chinese.
TPOF pollster Yinglong You (游盈隆) was responsible for questionnaire design, report writing, and interpretation of research findings. Focus Survey Research (山水民意研究公司) was entrusted with carrying out the telephone interviews, data collection, and statistical analysis.
Furthermore, the survey was weighted by region, gender, age, and education level based on the latest demographic data from the Ministry of the Interior.