A recent poll released by My-Formosa (Formosa Electronic News) (美丽岛电子报) showed that more than 68 percent of respondents would not accept a “peaceful unification, one country, two systems” arrangement with China while about 4 million Taiwanese people or 22 percent said they would accept it— sparking widespread public debate.
Poll: More than 4 Million Taiwanese willing to accept unification
According to a report by Liberty Times Net, the Beautiful Island e-Newsletter released a national political opinion survey on April 28. Along with the issue of unification, the poll also checked with respondents about the performance of the Taiwanese national government.
Regarding President Lai Ching-te’s overall performance in office, 44.5 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction, while 47.5 percent expressed dissatisfaction.
The poll also asked respondents whether they could accept the Chinese Communist Party’s proposal for “peaceful unification.” The question referenced remarks allegedly made during a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Kuomintang chair Cheng Li-wen, in which it was said that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to “one China,” that the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang should work together toward national unification, and that Taiwan could adopt a governance model similar to Hong Kong and Macau in order to avoid war.
The results to this question showed:
- 22.4 percent said they could accept “peaceful unification” (equivalent to more than 4 million people)
- 68.2 percent said they could not accept it
- 9.3 percent did not give a clear answer
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The survey was conducted from April 22 to 24 among adults aged 20 and above across Taiwan’s 22 cities and counties. The sample included 1,074 successfully completed interviews (698 via landline and 376 via mobile phone). At a 95 percent confidence level, the margin of error was ±3.0 percent.
Liu Bao-jie criticizes Cheng Li-wen for ‘destroying Taiwan’s psychological defenses’
The poll results sparked heated public discussion. Veteran media personality Liu Bao-jie posted on Facebook on May 6, sharply criticizing the Kuomintang for repeatedly calling for “peace” in recent years while simultaneously opposing arms purchases, moving closer to the Chinese Communist Party, and gradually accepting the “One China” principle. He argued that this has caused serious harm to Taiwan.
Liu said the most alarming and worrying part of the latest poll was that “22.4 percent of Taiwanese people actually said that as long as there is peace and no war, they could even accept a ‘one country, two systems’ arrangement like Hong Kong and Macau.”
He questioned whether this means that “the people represented by Cheng Li-wen, who keep calling for peace while undermining Taiwan’s psychological defenses, are actually being effective.”
Analyzing the issue from a historical perspective, Liu asked: “If a country chooses compromise, abandons its own defenses, or is even willing to surrender and submit to its opponent, can it really obtain peace?”
He added that people of his generation are relatively familiar with the history of the conflict between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang. Looking back, he argued, one can see that the Kuomintang was able to develop and lead China’s resistance against Japan only because it first “purged communist elements and distanced itself from the Chinese Communist Party.”
Liu Bao-jie also said that after the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan, it operated with the mindset that “if we retreat one more step, there will be nowhere left to survive,” focusing on rebuilding the military and strengthening its own capabilities.
However, he said that today’s atmosphere in Taiwan reminds him of the period around 1945–46 on the Chinese mainland. According to Liu: “What some retired generals are saying today is exactly the same as what the Kuomintang and Whampoa military officers were saying back then. There is even an atmosphere of defeatism and surrender hanging over Taiwan.”
Liu warned that such an atmosphere could seriously damage Taiwan in the future, which is why he specifically invited Ming Chu-cheng, emeritus professor at National Taiwan University, to discuss the issue together.
Huang Wei-han offers two suggestions to President Lai Ching-te
Veteran media personality Huang Wei-han wrote on Facebook on April 30 that he was very surprised that 22.4 percent of Taiwanese respondents were willing to accept unification.
He said that 22.4 percent effectively support “Taiwan becoming another Hong Kong” and accepting “one country, two systems.” He stressed that the influence of these more than 4 million people in elections and major public issues should not be underestimated.
Huang further analyzed that, according to the same poll, 68.2 percent of respondents were unwilling to be unified with China, yet President Lai Ching-te’s approval rating was only 44.5 percent.
This, he argued, means that 23.7 percent of the public — also more than 4 million people — do not want unification but also do not support Lai or the Democratic Progressive Party.
Huang urged Lai to do everything possible to reduce the proportion of people willing to accept unification and to unite citizens who oppose it: “Those in power must have the courage to take responsibility — responsibility for protecting the country and for the difficult task of uniting the people.”
‘Opposing Europe, America, and Japan would be even more dangerous in the future’
In addition, Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Chih-chung wrote on Facebook on May 2 that, from the perspective of 21st-century geopolitics, integration with China would not bring peace but could instead create greater risks of conflict and war.
Wu argued that if Taiwan were absorbed into China’s political system, it could further fuel Chinese nationalism and heighten regional tensions.
He warned that the Chinese Communist Party might extend military operations into surrounding waters in the future, potentially using force against Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, and turning both the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea into “China’s internal waters.”
At that point, he said, China’s navy — with 400 warships — would compete directly with the U.S. military for dominance in the Pacific Ocean.
Wu Chih-chung warned that if Taiwan were to become part of China, it would, “as China’s Taiwan Province,’ find itself opposed to Japan, the United States, and Europe — and that would be the most frightening future of all.”
By Li Jingyao, Vision Times
