90% of Taiwanese oppose Chinese military threats: MAC poll

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) More than 90 percent of Taiwanese oppose China's military threats against the country while nearly 80 percent believe maintaining cross-strait peace is the responsibility of both sides, according to a poll released Thursday by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the nation's top China policymaking body.

Around 90.3 percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Beijing's sabre-rattling over Taiwan and 74 percent said the Chinese government has been unfriendly to its Taiwanese counterpart, according to the survey.

Seventy-nine point eight percent of survey respondents said they support President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) National Day address on Oct. 10 in which she observed that keeping cross-strait peace is not the responsibility of Taiwan alone but should be shared by both sides.

Also, 85.3 percent support Tsai's proposal during her address that she is willing to engage in meaningful dialogue with Beijing as long as parity and dignity are maintained, the poll shows.

Meanwhile, 74.4 percent of respondents do not approve of China's long-held "one China principle" and its corollaries "the 1992 consensus" and opposition to Taiwan independence that see the country as part of China.

In addition, 75.9 percent reject the "one country, two systems" approach proposed by Beijing, and 86.4 percent believe only the 23 million people of Taiwan have the right to determine the nation's future and direction of cross-strait ties.

Among respondents, 73.4 percent said they support continuous close cooperation with the U.S. to bolster the nation's national security and self-defense capabilities.

More than 68 percent approve of recent national security legislation and regulatory amendments as well as the enactment of the anti-infiltration act to strengthen Taiwan's ability to defend the country's democratic system, the poll indicated.

The MAC said the survey results clearly show that Taiwanese oppose Chinese military threats and any one-sided political framework imposed by Beijing.

Conducted from Nov. 6-10 by National Chengchi University's Election Study Center for the MAC, the telephone survey involved 1,074 individuals aged over 20 nationwide. It has a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 percent.