More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found.
The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement.
The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification with Taiwan: Evidence from a Nationwide Survey in China” in May 2023 showed that 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve the unification of China and Taiwan, the Carter Center report said.
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However, most of the respondents in the latest survey said that they would agree with military action if that was the last resort.
Only 18.1 said that no military action was necessary, it showed.
“Public opinion in China reflects American views. Polling by Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy found that 87.6 percent of Chinese people agree that the United States is actively trying to limit China’s development,” the report said.
Asked how long China should wait to resolve the issue of Taiwan, the most common response — given by 33.5 percent of respondents — was within five years, it said.
Respondents were also asked about China’s interaction with Russia, India and countries around the South China Sea.
It showed that 66.1 percent said China should support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as it is in Beijing’s national interest, while 5.8 said it was not in China’s interest to support Russia’s operations in Ukraine.
It showed that 79.7 percent believe Beijing should maintain border claims with India, despite the risk of conflict, while 20.3 percent said a more diplomatic approach would be preferable.
Asked whether Southeast Asian countries should respect China’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea — even though the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has rejected Beijing’s claims — 81.1 percent said that they should, the survey showed.
The survey, which was conducted from Sept. 1 and 25 last year by survey company Dynata, interviewed 2,211 Chinese citizens aged 18 to 54.
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