Eighty-one percent of Taiwanese said Japan is a trustworthy nation, a poll showed, the highest number since the survey was started, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association said yesterday.
Japan has been the favorite nation among Taiwanese in every iteration of the survey — which has been commissioned eight times since 2008 — and the nation’s approval rating last year reached a historic high of 77 percent, far ahead of 4 percent approval for South Korea, it said.
The US and China both commanded an approval rating of 3 percent as the third-most favored nations among Taiwanese, said the association, which is Japan’s de facto embassy in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Eighty-one percent of Taiwanese aged 30 to 39 rated Japan as their favorite country, the highest among all age groups, it said.
Seventy percent of respondents said Taiwan should be most closely aligned with Japan, higher than 13 percent who favored aligning with the US and 11 percent who favored aligning with China, the association said.
Taiwanese who reported feeling a rapport with Japan rose to 81 percent last year, compared with 77 percent in the previous iteration of the survey in 2021, it said.
The share of Taiwanese who identified Japan as the nation with the most influence in Taiwan surged to 30 percent last year, up 17 points from 13 percent in 2021, it said.
By comparison, 48 percent and 19 percent of Taiwanese named the US and China respectively as commanding the most influence, with the latter dipping six points from two years ago, it said.
Seventy-seven percent of Taiwanese said they believe that Taiwan and Japan have good relations, another historical high, with 70 percent reporting that they perceived improving bilateral ties, the association said.
Only 2 percent of respondents said that the relationship between the two nations has declined, it added.
The survey, conducted by Pearson Data in December last year and January, had 1,520 valid samples and a margin of error of 2.75 percentage points.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS