70% in Taiwan view Chinese coast guard patrols as 'ill will': MAC poll

Taipei, Aug. 20 (CNA) Seven in 10 people in Taiwan view recent Chinese coast guard patrols in waters east of Taiwan as an act of "ill will," according to a Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) poll released Thursday.

The survey found that 70.5 percent of respondents regarded the patrols as malicious, while 7.5 percent considered them an act of goodwill and 22 percent had no opinion.

The question was included amid a series of operations by Chinese coast guard, other government and research vessels in waters east of Taiwan since June, including what Beijing has described as "special maritime law-enforcement operations."

Taiwan authorities have accused Beijing of using such operations to create the "false impression" that it has jurisdiction over the area, while China has maintained that its maritime law-enforcement activities are lawful and aimed at safeguarding what it considers its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.

Meanwhile, 76.4 percent supported amending the law to impose heavier penalties on people from overseas who commit violent crimes in Taiwan, following a July incident in which a Hong Kong man attacked media commentator Akio Yaita in Taichung, the poll showed.

Eleven percent opposed such a move, while 12.5 percent expressed no opinion.

The incident has drawn concern in Taiwan over possible Chinese transnational repression, with the Taiwanese government saying it is considering heavier penalties for actions commissioned, directed, or funded by hostile foreign forces.

The poll also found broad opposition to Beijing's political proposals for Taiwan, with 81.2 percent saying they opposed the "one country, two systems" formula, under which Taiwan would be treated as a special administrative region under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule.

Meanwhile, 83.6 percent favored broadly maintaining the status quo, while 83.9 percent supported the position that Taiwan's future should be decided by its 23 million people.

The three issues are long-running questions in the MAC's surveys, with the latest results broadly in line with previous polls and showing a largely stable trend over time.

In a separate question, 68.9 percent agreed that "Taiwan should maintain the status quo and reject unification with the CCP," while 18.3 percent disagreed.

Asked which consideration was more important in cross-strait exchanges, 46.9 percent chose safeguarding national sovereignty, slightly higher than the 40.9 percent who chose promoting economic development.

The survey, commissioned by MAC, was conducted by National Chengchi University's Election Study Center from Aug. 13-17 via telephone interviews with adults aged 20 and above in Taiwan.

According to MAC, 1,086 valid responses were collected, with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.97 percentage points.