Over 85% in Taiwan support cross-strait peace as top priority: MAC

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) More than 85 percent of Taiwanese support maintaining cross-strait peace and stability as Taiwan's top priority, according to a survey released Thursday by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), following the May 14-15 meeting between the leaders of China and the United States.

The survey was conducted after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during Trump's state visit to China, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a regular news briefing in Taipei.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported on May 14 that Xi told Trump during their meeting in Beijing that Taiwan independence and peace across the Taiwan Strait are "as irreconcilable as fire and water."

In a Fox News interview that aired on May 15 after being taped near the end of Trump's trip, the U.S. president said he was "not looking to have somebody go independent."

Although the MAC survey did not specifically ask respondents about their views on Taiwan declaring independence, 85.6 percent of the 1,073 respondents supported the statement that "the most important thing for Taiwan now is to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Meanwhile, 8.1 percent did not support the statement, while the remaining 6.3 percent said they did not know or had no opinion, according to the survey results.

Respondents were also asked about recent events, including President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) canceled visit in late April to Eswatini -- Taiwan's sole diplomatic ally in Africa -- after Taipei said his flight arrangements had been obstructed by Beijing.

The survey results showed that 82.2 percent of respondents did not approve of Beijing's actions, while 9.4 percent approved and 8.4 percent said they did not know or had no opinion.

The survey, commissioned by MAC, was conducted by polling firm Ipsos from May 22-23 and May 25-26 through telephone interviews with adults aged 20 and above in Taiwan.

According to 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.