Public split over whether US would defend Taiwan

The public is almost evenly split over whether the US would come to Taiwan's defense if China attacked, an opinion poll suggested yesterday.

The poll conducted by the Taiwan Thinktank on the meeting last week between US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) indicated that 52 percent of the public expected US support should a war break out in the Taiwan Strait.

Political scientist Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) of Soochow University yesterday said the result showed that the majority of people regard the US as a friendly ally.

However, Lo added that this view was at odds with public opinion in the US, as past surveys there on public support for the US sending troops to defend Taiwan averaged at only 30 percent.

Perception gap

"There is an obvious gap between what the Taiwanese people think they can get and what the American public are willing to give to Taiwan," Lo said.

The survey also showed that 60 percent of respondents did not believe remarks made by Hu during his visit to the US that "China has been dedicating itself to maintaining world peace and stability." Only 30 percent of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters said they believed Hu when answering the same question, according to the poll.

Lo said the result showed it was a misconception that Taiwanese people only focused on the "soft side" of China -- namely its economic attractions -- and that they have noticed both the positive and negative aspects of China's rise.

Joint efforts

Meanwhile, the poll also showed that 77 percent of respondents favored the idea of Taiwan, China and the US jointly managing cross-strait stability.

Twenty-six percent of respondents, meanwhile, felt that the Bush-Hu meeting had damaged US-Taiwan relations.

The poll was conducted last weekend with a sample size of 1,099 people.