Taiwanese gave the US a score of 5.55 out of 10 as a “likable country,” while China scored 2.82, a survey published yesterday by the Foundation for the People showed.
Of the respondents, 41 percent said that closer military cooperation with the US could better ensure Taiwan’s national security, while 77 percent said they had heard of the US’ proposed Taiwan policy act of 2022, which the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved last month.
Asked whether the US providing US$2 billion in non-repayable military assistance to Taiwan as proposed in the bill would undermine Taiwan’s independent defense capabilities, 26.5 percent of respondents said they “strongly agree” that it would, 23.6 percent said they “agree,” 19.1 percent said they “disagree,” while 23.9 percent said they “strongly disagree.”
Photo: Reuters
If China invaded Taiwan, 21.6 percent of respondents said that the US “will definitely” send troops to protect Taiwan, 26.5 percent said that the US “might” do so, 18.2 percent thought that the US “might not” do so, while 27.4 percent said that the US “definitely will not” do so.
As tensions between the US and China continue to grow, 39.5 percent of respondents thought that Taiwan should “move closer to the US,” 46.8 percent said that Taiwan should keep the same distance from the US and from China, while 7.5 percent thought that Taiwan should “move closer to China.”
Asked whether Taiwan should avoid getting involved in the competition between the US and China, 33.6 percent of respondents said they “strongly agree,” while 31.8 percent chose the “agree” option, 15.6 percent chose “disagree” and 12.9 percent chose “strongly disagree.”
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Of the respondents, 62.7 percent said the pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is placing on Taiwan regarding forceful unification through military means is rising, while 28.4 percent said that the pressure is similar to that of the past.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), who founded the foundation, said the public’s opinion on US-China relations is related to which political party they support.
The public has a “practical view” of US-China relations, he said.
He called on the government to ease tensions between Taiwan and China to reduce the pressure Taiwanese people feel due to the possibility of a Chinese military invasion.
Yen Chen-shen (嚴震生), an adjunct research fellow at National Chengchi University’s Institute of International Relations, said that Taiwanese value their nation’s diplomatic relationship with the US, but “whether the US thinks the same for Taiwan is worth thinking about.”
According to a recent poll conducted in the US, Americans care most about the economy, gun control, security and abortion, he said, adding that people in the US care more about internal affairs than diplomacy.
As such, whether the Taiwan policy act of 2022 is signed into law “remains to be seen,” he said.
Ross Feingold, a Taipei-based senior adviser at the Asia-Pacific Youth Association, said that Taiwan should refuse the non-repayable military assistance provided by the US as it is able to purchase military equipment independently.
The poll was conducted from Thursday to Sunday, with 1,078 valid responses collected on Facebook from people over the age of 20.
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