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.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS