Over 70 percent of the people of Taiwan (74.2% to be exact) agree with President Lee Teng-hui's recent policy shift where he announced that from now on relations between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China (PRC) would be "state-to-state relations" and that Taiwan is no longer a "political entity" because Beijing was effectively using it to undermine the legitimacy of the island's government. 17.3% disagreed.

The telephone survey, conducted on July 14 and 15 by the Chinese Association for EurAsian Studies, produced some other noteworthy results:

 * 86.9% of respondents said that the PRC is a state. 93.5% think the Republic of China is a state. [This might explain the large support for the "state-to-state" concept. C.B.]

 * 88.4% disagreed that Taiwan is part of the PRC. 90.8% opposed the notion that the "ROC does not exist" as claimed by Beijing.

 * 94.3% opposed Beijing's continued threats to Taiwan.

 * 79% supported the idea that Taiwan should continue developing diplomatic ties with other countries despite the possibility despite exacerbating tensions with Beijing.

 * 75.3% supported the idea that Taiwan should continue pushing for UN membership.