Over 75% Taiwanese support Lai's cross-strait approach: MAC survey

Taipei, May 30 (CNA) Over 75 percent of Taiwanese support President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) stance on cross-strait relations as outlined in his inaugural address, according to the results of the first survey announced Thursday by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) following Lai's inauguration on May 20.

Of the over 1,000 respondents to the survey, 75.1 percent supported Lai's statement that the new administration will uphold the "Four Commitments" and neither yield nor provoke China, while maintaining the status quo, the MAC said.

The "Four Commitments" is an approach to cross-strait policy proposed by Lai's predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), which includes commitments like "the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) and the People's Republic of China should not be subordinate to each other."

Over 70 percent of respondents also disagreed with the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) response to Lai's inaugural address, said Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), deputy head and spokesperson of the MAC, Taiwan's top government agency handling cross-strait affairs, at Thursday's press conference.

"The CCP's statement was that 'the Mainland and Taiwan both belong to one China; Taiwan is part of China; oppose Taiwan independence and foreign interference,'" Liang said. "76 percent of people do not agree with this (response)."

The survey, commissioned by the MAC, was conducted by market research company Ipsos from May 23-26 through telephone interviews with adults aged 20 and above in Taiwan. According to the MAC, 1,073 valid samples were collected, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.99 percentage points.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) said Wednesday that Taiwan belongs to all Chinese people, and it is an issue involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and must be decided by all Chinese people.

When asked to respond to Song's statement, Liang quoted the data from the survey, saying that 88.5 percent of respondents support Lai's stance that "the future of the Republic of China, Taiwan, should be decided by its 23 million people."

In response to Song's statement that the different systems across the Taiwan Strait are neither an obstacle to unification nor an excuse for separation, Liang said that the biggest issue between the two sides is the "difference in systems," adding that these differences have led to various difficulties and stalemate in cross-strait relations.

"I hope that the CCP can understand how precious Taiwan's democratic system is," he noted.

Liang also mentioned the "Hong Kong 47" trial, in which 14 out of 16 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who did not plead guilty among 47 oppositions figures charged under the Hong Kong national security law for organizing an unofficial primary election were convicted of subversion by a Hong Kong court on Thursday.

"The events happening in Hong Kong are being closely observed by the people of Taiwan," Liang said. "The difference in systems across the strait are indeed the biggest issue we currently face."

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