A mere 9.3 percent of the Taiwanese public find China trustworthy, and 82.7 percent think that the Chinese threat has intensified over the years, a survey released on Monday by Academia Sinica showed.
In the poll conducted from Sept. 14 to 19, the Institute of European and American Studies asked 1,211 Taiwanese adults about US-Taiwan-China relations, the effectiveness of the US’ security commitment, their perception of the “status quo,” and Taiwan’s economic and national security.
Compared with 13.5 percent in 2021, the latest survey showed that only 9.3 percent of respondents believed China was a trustworthy country, while 26.4 percent disagreed and 57.6 percent said they strongly disagreed.
Photo: Reuters
At the same time, the number of respondents who believed the US was trustworthy also tumbled from 45.35 percent in 2021 to 33.9 percent, while 55.3 percent deemed the US not trustworthy.
Pan Hsin-hsin (潘欣欣), an assistant professor at Soochow University’s Department of Sociology, attributed the decline in trust to the US’ reaction to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Washington’s response to the Russian invasion gave Taiwanese an insight into how the US might react should a war break out between Taiwan and China, Pan said.
The survey also showed that 55.7 percent of respondents agreed that the US has been stepping up measures to guarantee Taiwan’s safety over the past few years.
Moreover, 64.4 percent supported regular patrols and flybys of US military ships and planes through the Taiwan Strait, while 65.4 percent believed the US president’s pledge to protect Taiwan.
Meanwhile, 59.6 percent of respondents believed that visits by top US officials to Taiwan enhances the possibility of US forces assisting Taiwan when needed.
The survey also showed that 44.6 percent of respondents supported the idea that Taiwan’s semiconductor industry serves as a “silicon shield” and that the chip shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which could prompt the US to send forces to assist Taiwan, Academia Sinica assistant researcher James Lee (李語堂) said.
However, 47.9 percent of respondents thought otherwise, the survey showed.
As for Taiwan’s status, the vast majority of respondents, at 91.4 percent, supported maintaining the “status quo.”
More than half of respondents thought of the country’s name as the “Republic of China” or the “Republic of China (Taiwan).”
With regard to identity, 62.5 percent considered themselves Taiwanese, 2.3 percent thought of themselves as Chinese and 32.2 percent identified as both.
The survey was conducted by the Election Study Center at National Chengchi University via telephone interviews.
WHEELING AND DEALING? Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je, Eric Chu and Ma Ying-jeou are under investigation for allegedly offering bribes for the other side to drop out of the race Taipei prosecutors have started an investigation into allegations that four top politicians involved in attempts to form a “blue-white” presidential ticket have contravened election regulations. Listed as defendants are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). The case stemmed from judicial complaints filed last month with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office alleging that the KMT (blue) and the TPP (white) had engaged in bribery by offering money or other enticements
ELIGIBLE FOR JANUARY: All presidential candidates and their running mates meet the requirements to run for office, and none hold dual citizenship, the CEC said Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) is working with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to resolve issues with her financial disclosure statement, a spokesman for the candidate said yesterday, after the commission published the statements of all three presidential candidates and their running mates, while confirming their eligibility to run in the Jan. 13 election. Wu’s office spokesman, Chen Yu-cheng (陳宥丞), said the candidate encountered unforeseen difficulties disclosing her husband’s finances due to being suddenly thrust into the campaign. She is also the first vice presidential nominee to have a foreign spouse, complicating the reporting of
GOOD NEWS: Although open civic spaces are shrinking in Asia-Pacific countries and territories, Taiwan’s openness is a positive sign, an expert said Taiwan remains the only country in Asia with an “open” civic space for the fifth consecutive year, the Civicus Monitor said in a report released yesterday. The People Power Under Attack 2023 report named Taiwan as one of only 37 open countries or territories out of 198 globally, and the only one in Asia. Compiled by Civicus — a global alliance of civil society organizations dedicated to bolstering civil action — the ranking compiled annually since 2017 measures the state of freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression around the world. Researchers assign each country or territory one of five rankings describing the
NOT JUST CHIPS: Although semiconductor processes are on the list, it also includes military technology and post-quantum cryptography to combat emerging cyberthreats The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) yesterday released a list of 22 technologies it considers crucial to the nation’s security and competitiveness, including the 14-nanometer semiconductor process and advanced chip packaging. For the first time, the council made a list of core technologies with an aim of preventing secret information about those technologies being leaked to foreign countries, which could put the nation’s security and the competitiveness of local industries at risk. For years, local semiconductor companies have faced challenges from talent poaching and theft of corporate secrets by Chinese competitors, who are seeking to rapidly advance their technology capabilities through
RSS