Majority back Chiang-Chen meeting
Written by changthai11 on Sunday, November 9th, 2008
Majority back Chiang-Chen meeting : poll
TAIPEI, Taiwan — A majority of people endorse the signing of four agreements between Taiwan and China to further improve their relations, according to two polls published yesterday.
The China Times polled 711 eligible voters to find out a 56.1 percent majority of the respondents support the agreements on shortened air routes, direct maritime shipping, better mail service and food safety signed on Tuesday by P.K. Chiang, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), and his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin.
Chen, chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), arrived in Taipei on Monday and returned to Beijing yesterday after winding up a four-day visit.
According to the other poll by the United Daily News, a 52 percent majority of the 863 respondents express satisfaction with the signing of the agreements.
A 16.8 percent minority in the China Times poll do not approve of the agreements. Another 27.5 percent express no opinion.
Asked by the China Times whether Taiwan’s sovereignty was harmed by the Chiang-Chen meeting, a 42.5 percent plurality say it hasn’t. A 28 percent minority believes it has, while the remaining 29.5 percent refused to answer.
Do the respondents support the protest against President Ma Ying-jeou and Chen Yunlin?
A 59.4 percent majority in the China Times survey do not, against a 25.7 percent minority who expressed their support, while the remaining 14.9 percent said they don’t know.
The China Times also asked whether there was excessive mob control or if the mob was unruly or both sides were equally responsible for the bloodshed in mass rallies against Ma and Chen.
A 53.8 percent majority believed the mob was unruly. Only 19.7 percent of the respondents said police exercised excessive mob control, while 11.5 percent think both sides were equally responsible. The remaining 15 percent expressed no opinion.
Still another question asked by the China Times was whether the Chen visit has “positive” or “negative” impact on Taiwan’s future development.
A 49.9 percent plurality believed its has “positive” impact, against a 22 percent minority who think the impact is “negative,” while 3.7 percent said there’s no impact. The remaining 24.4 percent offered no opinion.
The last question was whether the Chiang-Chen meeting should be repeated in the future.
A 55.8 percent majority approve of a repetition. A 26.1 percent minority disapprove, with the remaining 18.1 percent not answering.
The United Daily News focused the poll on how people perceive the leadership of President Ma and Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen during Chen’s four-day stay in Taipei from Monday to Friday.
A 33 percent plurality in the United Daily News poll expressed satisfaction with how President Ma met with the ARATS chairman. Another 32 percent were dissatisfied with the way Ma met Chen.
Moreover, a 46 percent plurality of the respondents believed Ma did not denigrate his dignity as president in meeting with the ARATS chairman. A 36 percent minority doubt Ma upheld his dignity.
Asked to rate Tsai’s leadership in the protest campaign against the ARATS chairman, a 53 percent majority expressed dissatisfaction. Another 26 percent say they are satisfied with her leadership.
How do people want Taiwan’s future to be?
A 49 percent plurality wants to keep the status quo forever, the United Daily News survey showed. Those who want independence as soon as possible account for 16 percent.
Another 16 percent wished to maintain the status quo and wait for eventual Chinese unification. A mere four percent want unification as soon as possible, while eventual unification was supported by five percent.
Saturday, November 8, 2008 11:06 am TWN, By David Young, The China Post
