Americans have relatively “neutral” feelings about Taiwan and a large majority feel the US should not send troops to defend Taiwan if it is invaded by China, a survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released on Monday found.
In one of the survey’s questions on how Americans feel about other countries, Taiwan ranked 12th among 25 US friends, allies and enemies with a score of 52, just above Turkey at 50, a neutral rating on the question’s 0 to 100 scale.
A score of 100 represents a “very warm, favorable feeling,” while 0 indicates a “very cold, unfavorable feeling.”
Among the Asian countries surveyed, Taiwan trailed fourth-placed Japan (which scored 62) and eighth-placed South Korea (55). China was ranked 17th with a score of 44.
However, those good — or at least neutral — feelings did not translate into support for protecting allies if they were to come under attack, particularly if Taiwan was invaded by China.
Of 12 scenarios presented in which US troops could be deployed abroad, support for sending them if China attacked Taiwan was the lowest, at only 26 percent, compared with 47 percent support for sending in US troops if South Korea was invaded by the North or 45 percent support if Israel was attacked by its neighbors.
A Russian attack on a NATO ally found 44 percent support for deploying troops, and 30 percent support if Russia was to invade the rest of Ukraine.
“Americans have more favorable feelings toward Taiwan than China. Yet surveys since 1982 have shown that no more than a third of Americans has ever supported sending US troops to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion,” the council’s report on the survey said.
Also troubling for Taiwan is that fewer Americans see China as a threat.
“In line with readings from 2008, 2010 and 2012, just four in 10 Americans view the development of China as a world power as a critical threat. These attitudes contrast sharply with views between 1994 and 2002, when nearly six in 10 considered China’s rise a critical threat,” the report said.
“Even fewer consider China’s border disputes with its neighbors a critical threat [19%],” the report said.
The only scenarios receiving majority support for sending US troops was to stop a government from committing genocide, to deal with humanitarian crises, to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and to ensure the oil supply, the survey found.
The survey of US public opinion on foreign policy was conducted from May 6 to May 29 among a 2,108 adults. It had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to