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.
Photo: AP
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.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS: Trump and Xi respect each other, are in a unique position to do something great, and they want to do that together, the US envoy to China said The administration of US President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “we don’t want any coercion, but we want [the Taiwan dispute] resolved peacefully,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a TV interview on Thursday. Trump “has said very clearly, we are not changing the ‘one China’ policy, we are going to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communiques and the ‘six assurances’ that were done under [former US president Ronald] Reagan,” Perdue told Joe Kernen, cohost of CNBC’s Squawk Box. The act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington
DEEPENING TIES: The two are boosting cooperation in response to China’s coercive actions and have signed MOUs on search-and-rescue and anti-smuggling efforts Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972. Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report
RSS