The majority of respondents to a recent public opinion poll are opposed to the government sending troops to Iraq, two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday.
KMT Legislators Sun Kuo-hua (
A total of 1,150 valid replies from randomly chosen adult residents around the country were collected in the telephone poll, which is said to have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
According to the survey results, 74 percent said they are opposed to sending troops to Iraq and 72 percent said that if troops were sent to Iraq, Taiwan might become a target of terrorist attacks.
In addition, 56 percent of those interviewed said they see no legitimate reasons why the US attacked Iraq in the first place.
Even if Taipei were to deploy troops to Iraq, the poll found, 72 percent of the respondents said they don't think that the US would definitely come to this country's rescue in the event of a military conflict across the Taiwan Strait.
If Taipei were to send troops to Iraq, 65 percent said the move would further worsen the government's financial straits. Nevertheless, 58 percent said they feel the country should assist in humanitarian relief efforts in Iraq.
Speaking at the news conference, Liao, who represents the Aboriginal constituency, said 80 percent of the nation's marines are Aborigines.
"In tandem with our anti-war stance, all Aboriginal tribes in Taiwan strongly oppose the proposal of deploying our troops to Iraq," Liao said.
The issue of deploying troops to Iraq has been widely discussed since two US congressmen jointly introduced a proposal to the House Committee on International Relations on May 20 suggesting that President George W. Bush invite Taiwan to deploy 5,000 marines to fight alongside the US-led coalition forces in Iraq to signify their shared values of promoting democracy and opposing terrorism. Both US and Taiwanese government officials have denied that the two sides have ever discussed dispatching troops.
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