About 83 percent of respondents to a survey about last week's
visit by Kuomintang Vice President P.K. Chiang said they welcomed
and appreciated the recent visit of a Kuomintang delegation to the
mainland.
The survey, conducted by the Social Survey Institute of China
and released on Monday, indicated that people were "delighted and
excited" on hearing that the delegation had arrived at
Guangzhou.
The survey was conducted by telephone of 1,500 urban residents
in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Xiamen and other major
cities.
About 81 percent of the respondents called the visit
"significant" and said "it could help ease cross-Straits
tensions."
Another 68 percent said Chiang's visit could aid in checking the
"Taiwan independence" movement, and 61 percent believe "any bid for
secession from the motherland will fail," it said.
Chiang and more than 30 others visited commemorative sites in
Guangzhou, Nanjing and Beijing between March 28 and April 1, and
met with Taiwan business people on the mainland and Chinese
Communist Party leaders.
The visit came less than a month after China enacted its
anti-secession law.
The Social Survey Institute is currently being converted from a
government institution to an NGO.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2005)