This photo taken from the official website of Want Daily shows the announcement of the 2020 world of the year across the Straits during a ceremony in Tainan, Taiwan, Dec 11, 2020.

TAIPEI - The Chinese character "men," meaning "depressed," was voted the word of the year for 2020 by mainland and Taiwan netizens in the latest edition of an annual newspaper poll.

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The character won the most votes out of a total of 15.2 million in an online poll from Nov 24 to Dec 8, the newspaper Want Daily announced at a ceremony in Tainan, southern Taiwan, on Friday.

The question is how we can free people from such a depressed sentiment. This is what we should work for together.

 Chang Ping-huang, calligrapher from Taiwan

The poll was jointly hosted by several media organizations, including Taiwan-based Want Daily and Fujian-based Sun News.

The winning word beat the 39 other candidates that had been recommended by high-profile figures across the Taiwan Straits.

Speaking at the official ceremony, Chang Ping-huang, a renowned calligrapher from Taiwan, said that the winning word demonstrates a common sentiment felt by people across the Straits.

"The question is how we can free people from such a depressed sentiment. This is what we should work for together," Chang said.

"I believe people chose the word 'depressed' not only to express their feeling about 2020, but also as an aspiration to break out of the current situation," said Chen Weiming, president and editor-in-chief of Sun News, addressing the ceremony via a video message.

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"If people on the two sides of the Straits can stay hopeful and the channel for communication remains open, the two sides can contain the risks and overcome difficulties," said Chen.

The event has been held annually since 2008. Last year's choice was the character "kun," which means "trapped".

The event reminded people across the Straits that they speak the same language, worship the same ancestors and share the responsibility to carry on the Chinese cultural tradition, said Wang Feng, chairman of the board of the Taipei-based China Times.

"We should have faith that we Chinese are resilient and we can survive all difficulties, including COVID-19," he said.