A fresh round of polling commissioned by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council shows overwhelming public rejection of Beijing's political framework for the island, alongside broad suspicion of China's gray zone activity in waters around Taiwan. The survey found that 81.2 percent of respondents oppose the "one country, two systems" model Beijing has proposed for unification, while 68.9 percent said they favor preserving the status quo rather than unifying with the People's Republic of China.
Support ran even higher for the government's own framing of cross strait relations: 83.6 percent backed what officials describe as a "broadly defined status quo," and 83.9 percent agreed that Taiwan's future should be decided by its own 23 million people. Pollsters noted that these numbers have stayed remarkably stable over years of repeated surveys, which they say points to a durable public consensus behind Taiwan's right to determine its own path.
Coast Guard Patrols Draw Widespread Suspicion
The poll also probed public attitudes toward recent Chinese activity closer to home. Asked about China coast guard vessels patrolling waters off Taiwan's east coast, 70.5 percent of respondents described the deployments as "malicious." Separately, in the wake of an attack on Japanese journalist Akio Yaita by a visitor from Hong Kong, 76.4 percent said they support amending Taiwan's laws to impose tougher criminal penalties on foreign nationals who commit violent crimes while in the country, a response the Mainland Affairs Council read as evidence of strong public demand for tighter safeguards against cross border unrest.
Government Vows To Strengthen Self Defense And Dialogue
Council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh said the results confirm that mainstream Taiwanese opinion rejects both "one country, two systems" and unification with China, even as Beijing continues what he characterized as gray zone pressure campaigns and attempts to stir social unrest through cross border intimidation. He said the government would keep advancing three initiatives in response: a four pillars of peace action plan, a 17-point strategy for countering national security and united front threats, and an action plan aimed at defending Taiwan's democracy, all intended to build up self defense capacity and social resilience.
At the same time, Liang said Taipei is calling on Beijing to accept the practical reality that the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to one another, and to engage in dialogue with Taiwan's democratically elected government without preconditions in order to resolve political differences between the two sides.
The survey was conducted by National Chengchi University's Election Study Center on behalf of the Mainland Affairs Council between August 13 and 17, reaching 1,086 valid respondents aged 20 and older by telephone, with a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.97 percent.
