A majority of Taiwanese are confident the US would help defend Taiwan against Chinese provocation, a survey conducted after US President George W. Bush's recent visit to Beijing showed yesterday.
Some 54 percent of the 829 people polled believe Washington would stick to its pledge of helping Taiwan defend itself against threats from Beijing, according to the survey conducted by the United Daily News Sunday.
Only 26 percent thought the US word could not be relied upon, it said.
Meanwhile, 67 percent of the respondents thought the cross-strait issue would eventually be settled peacefully, up 12 percentage points over a similar poll in July 1998 following a Beijing summit between then US president Bill Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
Only 14 percent of respondents were pessimistic about the prospects of a peaceful resolution, down nine percentage points from four years ago, the poll said.
Last week, Bush sought to reassure Beijing that he supported the "One China" policy under which Taiwan is defined as a part of the Chinese territory.
But he reiterated his support for the Taiwan Relations Act, under which the US is committed to providing Taiwan with the means to defend itself against military threats from China.
Bush reaffirmed Washington's commitment to defending Taiwan, saying "... I honor that act [Taiwan Relations Act] which says we'll help Taiwan defend itself if provoked."
"But we've also sent the same message that there should be no provocation by either party."
The poll also showed a significant rise in the number of people who saw a friendlier US policy toward Taiwan since the Clinton-Jiang summit. About 37 percent said US-Taiwan relations were warmer, sharply higher than the 13 percent in 1998.
Only 34 percent thought the US had got closer to China, down 22 percent from four years ago.
Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in China-US ties and has been a source of tension for decades.
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