Taipei: Fewer Taiwanese people intend to work or live in China despite efforts promoting closer trade and tourism links, according to a new survey.
Sixty-six percent of the 1,024 people interviewed by the United Daily News in late August said they would not go to the mainland to work, an increase of four percentage points from a similar poll last year.
An overwhelming 90 percent said they would not want to move to China while 66 percent said they would not let their children go to study on the mainland. Both figures were up on last year.
Fifty-six percent said they had a negative impression of the Chinese government, up two percentage points from last year, while 45 percent thought negatively about Chinese people, an improvement of two percentage points.
More than half of respondents hoped the two sides could maintain "the status quo" in terms of Taiwan's status, while 29 percent preferred immediate or gradual independence, with the rest leaning towards reunification with China.
Tensions between the former bitter rivals have eased markedly since the island's economics-focused government took power in 2008.
However, Beijing still claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory awaiting eventual reunification and has not renounced the use of force against Taiwan should it declare formal independence.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, September 10, 2011, 13:58