A majority of respondents in a poll released by Taiwan Thinktank yesterday agreed that the government should slow the pace of signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China and postpone next week’s fourth round of high-level cross-strait talks before a higher degree of public consensus is reached.

The survey showed that 62.5 percent of respondents agreed that “the December [5] election results showed that many people in Taiwan still have doubts about an EFCA plan and thus the [President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)] administration should put off signing the deal with China and rather seek consensus within the country.”