Poll: Majority of Taiwanese think China vital to Taiwan development

Aug 9, 2010, 1:04 GMT

Taipei - The majority of Taiwanese think that China is vital to Taiwan's development, a newspaper survey showed Monday.

According to the telephone poll of 1,083 adults conducted by the Want Daily, 67 per cent said that China is vital for Taiwan's future development, up 10 per cent from a similar poll a year ago.

However, many Taiwanese think they do not know enough about China, despite increased exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, the poll said.

Forty-nine per cent of those polled hoped to learn more about China, up 4 per cent from last year, while 45 per cent thought it unnecessary to learn more about the mainland, down 3 per cent from last year.

The poll showed that many Taiwanese are living in China because of their work or investment, and some Taiwanese have married mainlanders.

Among those interviewed by the Want Daily, 19 per cent said a member of their family works in China, and 9 per cent said a family member has married a mainlander.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of the Chinese Civil War, but tension began to ease in the late 1980s when Taiwan allowed its citizens to visit China for family reunions, business or sightseeing.

Cross-Strait ties began to improve rapidly in 2008 when Ma Ying- jeou became president and vowed to seek peace with Beijing.

Since then, Taiwan has opened sea, air, tourism and postal links with China. On June 29, Taiwan and China signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, similar to a free-trade agreement, to promote economic integration.