Fri, Mar 13, 2026 page1

• Majority willing to resist China in attack, survey finds

  • By Hollie Younger / Staff writer, with CNA
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  Nearly 60 percent of Taiwanese polled said they would be willing to resist “at all costs” if China attacks Taiwan and the US does not deploy forces to help, an Academia Sinica survey released yesterday found.

  The Institute of European and American Studies’ “American Portrait” survey found that 58.7 percent of respondents would be willing to resist a Chinese invasion “at all costs,” even if the US does not deploy forces to help.

  Among them, 41.2 percent said they would “definitely” resist, while 17.5 percent said they “probably” would.

  

  People on April 10, 2023, pose for pictures at a statue for the workers who built the Beihai Tunnel on Nangan island in Lienchiang County (Matsu).

  Photo: Jack Moore, AFP

  The survey showed that 21.7 percent would “definitely not” resist, while 14.5 percent said “probably not.”

  If the US were to deploy forces, 56.5 percent said they would be willing to “resist at all costs,” with 34.4 percent saying they would “definitely” resist, while 22.1 percent responded “probably.”

  Meanwhile, 21.7 percent responded “definitely not,” while 13.1 percent said “probably not.”

  Taiwanese willingness to fight has remained high in surveys since 1998, Soochow University associate professor of sociology Pan Hsin-hsin (潘欣欣) told a news conference yesterday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

  The number of respondents willing to resist remains relatively high, largely driven by supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), while supporters of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) tend to disagree, she said.

  DPP supporters’ willingness to defend Taiwan remained unchanged regardless of US intervention, she said.

  Asked which statement on cross-strait affairs most aligns with their viewpoint, the majority said they wanted to maintain the “status quo,” with 29.9 percent wishing to “maintain the status quo indefinitely.”

  Meanwhile, 1.9 percent said “unification as soon as possible,” while 5.8 percent said “declare independence as soon as possible,” the survey showed.

  Since 2021, American Portrait has asked the question: “Do you agree or disagree that the US is a credible country?”

  Overall perceived credibility dropped from about 45 percent of respondents in 2021 to 34 percent this year, said Wu Wen-chin (吳文欽), a research fellow with the Institute of Political Science at Academia Sinica.

  Meanwhile, Chinese credibility rose from 11.7 percent in 2021 to 17 percent this year, he said.

  Taiwanese respondents view the US and China differently in terms of credibility, with far more people seeing the US as trustworthy than China, Wu said.

  Respondents were also asked whether they agree with increasing the national defense budget to 3 percent of GDP, with 31.1 percent saying they disagree, including 16.9 percent who “strongly” disagreed and 14.2 percent who “probably” disagreed.

  Of the 53.5 percent who said they agree, 25.9 percent said “probably agree” and 27.6 percent said “strongly agree.”

  Asked if they would agree to increase defense spending “in response to a US request,” overall disagreement rose to 40 percent, while overall agreement fell to 49.7 percent.

  Meanwhile, 69.5 percent of respondents said they supported Taiwan’s procurement of US weapons, while 24.7 percent did not.

  Almost all DPP supporters support US weapon purchases, while about two-thirds of TPP supporters and fewer than half of KMT supporters expressed support, Pan said.

  That position has created political deadlock, as the opposition parties together hold the legislative majority, leaving the procurement of US arms to continue at a “glacial speed,” she said.

  The results came as the DPP’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.25 billion) special defense budget has been stalled by the legislature for months.

  The questionnaire was conducted from Jan. 20 to 26, garnering 1,206 valid telephone responses from respondents aged 20 or older, with a weighted sample against age, ethnicity, education and region to reflect the population.
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