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Taiwanese identity
stays strong: poll
GROWING GAP: The survey shows that opposition to
unification remained strong at 60.9 percent, while more than half of respondent
think Taiwan will stay independent
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The number of people who identify themselves as Taiwanese showed a marginal
increase compared with a survey conducted four years ago, while the number of
those who identify themselves as being Chinese continues to drop, the Taiwan
Indicators Survey Research (TISR) said yesterday.
In a tracking poll about identity, wherein respondents were allowed to make
multiple choices, 96.5 percent of respondents identified themselves as
Taiwanese, an increase of 0.6 percent from a similar poll conducted in September
2008, the survey showed.
In answer to the same question, 85.3 percent of respondents also identified
themselves as “citizens of the Republic of China,” 74.1 percent checked Zhonghua
minzu (中華民族, Chinese ethnic group), 72.3 percent chose “Asians” and 69.8 percent
huaren (華人, ethnic Chinese).
Meanwhile, the percentage of those who identified themselves as zhongguo ren
(中國人, Chinese) dropped to 43.5 percent from 46.6 percent in the 2008 poll, and
only 7.5 percent said they were “citizens of the People’s Republic of China [PRC],”
down 1.9 percent.
TISR general manager Tai Li-an (戴立安) said that 11 percent of respondents in the
20-to-39 age group said they were PRC citizens.
Asked about future relations between Taiwan and China, 37.4 percent viewed the
two as “trade partners,” down 6.7 percent from a similar poll in March 2010, the
survey showed.
About one in five, or 19.9 percent, viewed the two sides as “friends,” 8.2
percent as “relatives,” 8.1 percent as “family members,” 4.3 percent as
“strangers” and 4.2 percent as “enemies.”
Opposition to “eventual unification” remained strong, with 60.9 percent of
respondents saying they do not support unification with China, about three times
the percentage of those who favored it at 20.5 percent.
More than half — 52.3 percent — of respondents said Taiwan should eventually
become a fully fledged independent and new nation, while 27.5 percent did not
support the idea.
Pan-blue supporters appeared to be divided on the issue, with 44.4 percent
supportive of Taiwanese independence against 43.3 percent who oppose it.
Public opinion remained divided over President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) position on
the nation’s future, with 37.5 percent saying that Ma was pro-unification and
33.9 percent saying that Ma favored the “status quo,” which were about the same
as the ratios in previous surveys. Only 9.7 percent of respondents said Ma was
pro-independence.
The survey, conducted on Thursday and Friday last week, collected 1,002 valid
samples and had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
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