More than half of people in Taiwan — 52.3 percent — say the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is responsible for undermining peace across the Taiwan Strait, according to a survey released by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), as reported by The Taipei Times and carried by ANI on Sunday (October 25). The figure is up from 47.4 percent in a similar poll in May — a rise of nearly five percentage points.

Source: ANI via ChinaPulse, Oct 25

Another 28.5 percent of respondents said both Taiwan and China shared responsibility, down from 33.3 percent in May. Only 6 percent held Taiwan solely responsible, down from 7.9 percent, while 13.2 percent expressed no opinion or said they were unsure, up from 11.3 percent.

Nearly nine in ten reject 'one country, two systems'

The same poll found that 88.3 percent of respondents reject accepting unification under Beijing's 'one country, two systems' formula even at the cost of freedom and democracy, and 92 percent say Taiwan's future must be decided by its 23 million people. Some 78.8 percent agreed that the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other.

Source: The Formosan, reporting the MAC poll

52.3%blame the CCP for undermining cross-strait peace
88.3%reject 'one country, two systems'
92%say Taiwan's future is for its 23 million people to decide
80.6%support raising the defence budget

Support for a stronger defence also rose in the survey: 80.6 percent backed raising the defence budget, and 80.2 percent supported legislation to stop China from using foreigners to commit crimes in Taiwan. The poll was conducted by Ipsos from October 15 to 19 among 1,073 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.99 percentage points.

Source: The Formosan, reporting the MAC poll

MAC links the shift to coast guard patrols and pressure cases

MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh attributed the shift partly to increased Chinese coast guard patrols and the presence of research and maritime militia vessels in waters east of Taiwan. Beijing has intensified coast guard activities in the region since June, and a suspected Chinese maritime militia vessel was spotted there in August, according to Focus Taiwan's reporting of the briefing.

Source: Focus Taiwan via Taiwan Newswire

Liang also pointed to suspected cases of Chinese transnational repression in Taiwan. They include the July assault in Taichung on political commentator Akio Yaita, in connection with which a Hong Kong gang member was indicted earlier this month, and an alleged staged traffic accident involving comedian Huang Yi-hao in September; prosecutors have linked the cases to intimidation of people critical of China, Focus Taiwan reported.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide their future. The MAC poll is a snapshot of public opinion in Taiwan, not a statement of policy by either government.