It marked a 10 percent rise over an identical survey done by the United Daily News on December 31, 1999 ahead of Macau's return to China, the paper said.

Four in five respondents said they were unhappy with the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party's first year in office, the paper said.

The paper said the findings indicated the mainland's dynamic economic development in recent years had influenced the Taiwan public.

Twenty-four percent said they would like to resettle in the mainland, up from the previous survey's 15 percent.

The survey of 1,035 people was conducted from June 25 to 27, ahead of the fourth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

Beijing has said Taiwan's capitalist system would stay unchanged after reunification, under the same formula that it held out to absorb Hong Kong and Macau.

A record 61 percent of those surveyed favored direct transport links with China, eight percent higher than last year.

Taiwan authorities has allowed limited direct transport and business links with the mainland since January and agreed to review the policy next year.

(China Daily 07/01/2001)