Most people in Taiwan regard Japan as the world’s most likable country, a survey released yesterday by the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association said.
Sixty percent of the respondents chose “Japan” when asked to name their “most likable country/region.”
China and the US polled at 7 percent and 6 percent respectively.
Photo: CNA
Sixty-eight percent of people from eastern Taiwan named Japan as the most likable, followed by 65 percent in the south choosing Japan, 59 percent in central Taiwan and 57 percent in the north, it showed.
In terms of age, 73 percent of those who chose Japan were in their 30s, followed by 71 percent in their 40s, 65 percent in their 20s, 51 percent above 65, and 47 percent aged 50 to 64.
Another question asked: “What country/region should Taiwan grow closer to?”
Japan was named by 46 percent of respondents, followed by the US at 24 percent and China at 15 percent, the poll showed.
On this question, 55 percent from eastern Taiwan named Japan, 50 percent in the central region, 45 in the south and 44 percent in the north.
By age, 57 percent were in their 40s, 54 percent in their 30s, 50 percent in their 20s, 41 percent above 65, and 34 percent aged 50 to 64.
The poll also showed that 70 percent of respondents considered the relationship between Japan and Taiwan as “good” — up 17 percentage points from the previous poll in 2019 — and only 2 percent considered the relationship as “bad.”
Sixty percent of the respondents saw Japan as trustworthy — up 10 points from the 2019 poll. Eight percent said the opposite.
Asked whether they felt close to Japan, 77 percent of the respondents answered “yes” — up from 70 percent from the 2019 poll — and 6 percent said “no.”
Taiwanese have grown to like and trust Japan more, and have a more positive attitude toward the relationship between the two countries, the association said.
The poll was conducted from Jan. 5 to Jan. 20 among people in Taiwan, aged 20 to 80, the association said, adding that it collected 1,068 valid samples with a margin of error of 3.06 percent.
Additional reporting by CNA
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
Recent movements by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been “highly unusual,” but the military maintains a grasp of the situation, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said on Friday, after the military for the first time said it was monitoring troop movements in China’s Dacheng Bay (大埕灣). The minister gave the remarks to reporters before appearing at the legislature on the first day of its new session. The Ministry of National Defense on Thursday evening released an air force surveillance photograph of a PLA Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, and said it was monitoring the PLA Rocket Force and ground
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
RSS