Academia Sinica poll finds Taiwanese now care more about sovereignty than economy when dealing with China

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/19
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A poll released by Academia Sinica has found that Taiwanese now care much more about sovereignty than the economy, a major reversal from last year, as bullying from Beijing takes its toll.

Since 2013, Academia Sinica has been conducting a survey asking Taiwanese whether they most value Taiwan’s "sovereignty" or "economic benefits" in the context of relations with China. The most recent results from March this year show a dramatic drop in interest in economic benefits to 31.3 percent, and a significant spike in concern about Taiwan's sovereignty to 58.3 percent.

Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology deputy director Chen Chih-jou (陳志柔) said that Taiwan's sense of crisis over its sovereignty is stronger than before, even more so than after the Sunflower Movement, reported Liberty Times. He also said that Taiwanese are slowly losing their illusion about the economy.

The full wording of the question given to participants is, "When it comes to cross-strait exchanges, some people believe that Taiwan's economic benefits are important, while others believe that Taiwan's national sovereignty is important. Which one do you think is more important?"    [FULL  STORY]