A mere 9.3 percent of the Taiwanese public find China trustworthy, and 82.7 percent think that the Chinese threat has intensified over the years, a survey released on Monday by Academia Sinica showed.
In the poll conducted from Sept. 14 to 19, the Institute of European and American Studies asked 1,211 Taiwanese adults about US-Taiwan-China relations, the effectiveness of the US’ security commitment, their perception of the “status quo,” and Taiwan’s economic and national security.
Compared with 13.5 percent in 2021, the latest survey showed that only 9.3 percent of respondents believed China was a trustworthy country, while 26.4 percent disagreed and 57.6 percent said they strongly disagreed.
A surveillance camera is silhouetted behind a Chinese national flag in Beijing on Nov. 3.
Photo: Reuters
At the same time, the number of respondents who believed the US was trustworthy also tumbled from 45.35 percent in 2021 to 33.9 percent, while 55.3 percent deemed the US not trustworthy.
Pan Hsin-hsin (潘欣欣), an assistant professor at Soochow University’s Department of Sociology, attributed the decline in trust to the US’ reaction to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Washington’s response to the Russian invasion gave Taiwanese an insight into how the US might react should a war break out between Taiwan and China, Pan said.
The survey also showed that 55.7 percent of respondents agreed that the US has been stepping up measures to guarantee Taiwan’s safety over the past few years.
Moreover, 64.4 percent supported regular patrols and flybys of US military ships and planes through the Taiwan Strait, while 65.4 percent believed the US president’s pledge to protect Taiwan.
Meanwhile, 59.6 percent of respondents believed that visits by top US officials to Taiwan enhances the possibility of US forces assisting Taiwan when needed.
The survey also showed that 44.6 percent of respondents supported the idea that Taiwan’s semiconductor industry serves as a “silicon shield” and that the chip shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which could prompt the US to send forces to assist Taiwan, Academia Sinica assistant researcher James Lee (李語堂) said.
However, 47.9 percent of respondents thought otherwise, the survey showed.
As for Taiwan’s status, the vast majority of respondents, at 91.4 percent, supported maintaining the “status quo.”
More than half of respondents thought of the country’s name as the “Republic of China” or the “Republic of China (Taiwan).”
With regard to identity, 62.5 percent considered themselves Taiwanese, 2.3 percent thought of themselves as Chinese and 32.2 percent identified as both.
The survey was conducted by the Election Study Center at National Chengchi University via telephone interviews.
Source: Taipei Times - 2023/11/22
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