A majority of people surveyed in 14 countries across Europe and North America would favor diplomatic and economic sanctions on China over direct military involvement if it attacked Taiwan, a survey conducted by US and German organizations showed.
“Regarding China, most respondents support a tougher approach by their country toward Beijing, but in the scenario of an invasion of Taiwan there is no appetite for sending arms or troops to the island,” the Washington-based German Marshall Fund and Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation said in the foreword of their survey findings, released on Thursday.
The survey was conducted in late June and early July, before China in August launched nearly a week of intensive live-fire military drills in maritime areas encircling Taiwan.
The “Transatlantic Trends” survey, the third of its kind conducted since 2020, was carried out by the two organizations to gauge public opinion regarding geopolitical challenges facing transatlantic nations.
China’s growing global assertiveness has been among the issues covered in its surveys, although this year was the first time that a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan was included.
The 14 countries surveyed this year were Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the US, with about 1,500 people in each country interviewed.
Across countries and policy areas, a plurality of respondents supported a tougher approach toward China, either unilaterally or with partners, except when it comes to dealing with new technology, where respondents showed a preference for more cooperation, the survey showed.
The respondents most in favor of a tough approach toward China were British, French, Canadian, Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese and Spanish, while support for cooperation with China is highest in Turkey, Lithuania and Romania, the poll showed.
About half of the respondents in Spain, Sweden, Canada, the Netherlands, France, the UK and Germany would be willing to accept the economic costs of tougher approaches toward China.
Asked about a potential attack on Taiwan, respondents in all 14 countries said that sanctions and diplomatic actions would be preferable to sending arms or troops to Taiwan.
About 35 percent of respondents supported only diplomatic measures, 32 percent backed economic sanctions, while 4 percent supported sending arms, and 2 percent supported sending troops to aid Taiwan. Another 12 percent said to take no action.
The most support for sending arms or troops to support Taiwan in the event of an attack was from US respondents, at 8 percent and 7 percent respectively.
Among the US’ closest allies in Europe, sending arms or troops was supported by 5 percent and 3 percent respectively in the UK, and 3 percent and 2 percent respectively in France.
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