A majority of Americans are in favor of the US supporting Taiwan, but most do not want their country to go to war with China, a US think tank poll showed yesterday.
Fifty-one percent of respondents in the Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey said they believe that the US should encourage Taiwan to maintain the “status quo,” rather than move toward independence (36 percent) or unification (4 percent).
The survey found positive sentiment toward Taiwan from most Americans: 61 percent of respondents said they supported recognizing Taiwan as an independent country, 59 percent support Taiwan’s inclusion in international organizations and 74 percent support US weapons transfers to Taiwan.
Photo: Reuters
Should China invade Taiwan, Americans support a range of policies to aid Taiwan, with 74 percent saying they support airlifting supplies to the country, while 72 percent said they support economic and diplomatic sanctions on China, and 59 percent support the US providing arms to Taiwan.
However, the poll found significant skepticism about direct US involvement in military affairs, especially if that could lead to war with China.
Up to 58 percent oppose putting US forces into a position that could lead to war with China, while only 37 percent of respondents said they support using the US Navy to break a blockade and 36 percent support sending troops to help defend Taiwan.
Craig Kafura, the report’s author and director of public opinion and foreign policy at the think tank, said the results “seem to present a puzzle,” as most Americans are in favor of greater support and deepening ties with Taiwan, but are wary of war.
The slight decrease in support for direct military intervention in the past three years of polling could also be influenced by US support for Ukraine and Israel, which feed into a sense that the country is overcommitted and overextended around the world, Kafura wrote.
The results were also generally bipartisan, as Democrats, Republicans and independents all showed similar levels of support for the policy options.
The survey also showed that 42 percent of respondents support a formal commitment to defend Taiwan, while 59 percent support the US signing a free-trade agreement with Taiwan and 62 percent said the US-Taiwan security relationship does more to strengthen US national security than to weaken it.
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