More than half of US respondents in a poll considered protecting Taiwan more important than maintaining good relations with China, a survey conducted by The Economist and YouGov showed.
The poll conducted from Feb. 25 to Tuesday last week asked 1,500 adult US citizens questions about the US’ role amid rising tensions between Taiwan and China.
Fifty-one percent of the respondents said it is more important for the US “to take a strong stand so that China does not take over Taiwan by force,” while 24 percent preferred “the US to maintain good relations with China.”
Photo: AP
Among people who said they have heard “a lot” about relations between Taiwan and China, 70 percent said that the US should take a strong stand, while 18 percent supported maintaining good relations with Beijing.
If an armed conflict were to arise between Taiwan and China, 37 percent of respondents said that the “US should help protect Taiwan with military force,” while 22 percent disagreed.
However, 41 percent of respondents said that they “do not know enough about the topic to say.”
Photo: Screen grab from the YouGov Web site
Among people who said they are familiar with the cross-strait situation, 63 percent said the US should help protect Taiwan using military force, while 25 percent disagreed.
Asked about the US’ relations with China, 40 percent of respondents viewed China as an enemy and 35 percent said that China is unfriendly to the US. Only 4 percent considered Beijing an ally, while 9 percent said it is friendly toward the US.
The opposite was found regarding the US’ relations with Taiwan, with 24 percent of respondents saying Taiwan is an ally of the US, and 37 percent considering the nation friendly. Only 3 percent said Taipei is an enemy of the US, while 8 percent said it is unfriendly.
Regarding US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s rumored plan to visit Taiwan, 48 percent of respondents said that McCarthy should visit, while 25 percent said he should not.
In a poll conducted after then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August last year, 39 percent of respondents disapproved of the trip, while 34 percent approved.
The survey had a margin of error of about 3 percent, YouGov’s Web site says.
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