The overwhelming majority of Taiwanese are opposed to Beijing

According to a survey, 86.4% of respondents believe that only the inhabitants of the island have the right to determine the future of the country. The Chinese regime’s "one China principle" and the "one country, two systems" formula is rejected. Irritation at the military threats of the "motherland" and support for military cooperation with the US.

Taipei (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The vast majority of Taiwanese are opposed to China's claims on the reunification between the island and the "motherland". This is the result of a survey published yesterday by Taiwan’s Bureau for relations with Beijing, the Mainland Affairs Council.

According to the study, carried out on a sample of over a thousand people, 86.4% of respondents believe that only the 23 million Taiwanese have the right to determine the future of the country and the direction of relations with Communist China.

In large part, the inhabitants of Taiwan reject the formulas that Beijing wants to impose: 74.4% are opposed to the "one China principle", with which the Chinese regime rejects any formal independence of the island; 75.9% do not accept the "one country, two systems" approach, which critics say the Asian giant is not respecting in Hong Kong.

More than 90% of respondents are also irritated by Beijing's military threats, while 74% define the Chinese government as "hostile". 79% support President Tsai Ing-wen's view that maintaining peace along the Taiwan Strait is not the island's sole responsibility.

The survey shows support for strong relations with the United States. 73.4% of the Taiwanese interviewed favour military cooperation with Washington. More generally, 68% are in favour of the recently approved legislation to defend the country's democratic system.

Taiwan has been effectively independent of China since 1949; at the time, Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists found refuge there after losing the civil war on the mainland against the Communists, making it the heir to the Republic of China founded in 1912. For Beijing, the island is a rebel province, to be reconquered even by force if necessary.

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