Nearly 70 percent of Taiwanese are willing to go to war if China were to attempt to annex Taiwan by force, a survey released by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy yesterday said.
The foundation considers it a fitting time to pose the question as the Chinese military has over the past few years been increasing activity near Taiwan, foundation president Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told a news conference in Taipei.
A total of 67.7 percent of respondents said they were willing to go to war to defend Taiwan if China launched an armed assault on the nation to force unification.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The number of people willing to fight to prevent unification with China rose to 70.3 percent among respondents aged 20 to 39, the survey showed.
However, the number of respondents willing to go to war with China as a result of Taiwan declaring independence dropped to 55 percent, the survey showed.
A large majority of respondents — 91.1 percent — said they support maintaining the “status quo,” with 34 percent saying that they wanted the “status quo” to be maintained and would decide whether to support independence or unification based on future developments, it showed.
Respondents that supported “perpetually” maintaining the “status quo” accounted for 27.8 percent, while those who support maintaining the “status quo” before moving toward independence and those who support maintaining the “status quo” before moving toward unification were about equal at 15 percent and 14.3 percent respectively.
Only 2.4 percent of people said Taiwan should immediately declare independence, while even fewer people — 1.5 percent — said that Taiwan should immediately unify with China.
The survey also gauged satisfaction with the nation’s democratic system, which found that 58.2 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Taiwanese democracy.
The majority of respondents — 54.4 percent — felt “pessimistic” about the future of politics under the nation’s democratic system, while 36.4 percent said they felt optimistic.
However, 94 percent of people said that living in a democratic society is “important,” of which 65.8 percent said it is “very important.”
In addition, 76.4 percent of people agreed with the statement: “Democracy, despite its flaws, is still the best system,” the poll showed.
The commonly held opinion that a majority of young people are “congenitally in favor of Taiwanese independence” could be better put as “congenitally against unification” with China or “born democratic,” as the majority are in favor of maintaining the “status quo,” Hsu said.
“If we factor in questions about whether young people support democracy, we discover that the more people support democracy, the more willing they are to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China,” Hsu said. “I think it is our democratic lifestyle and values that people want to protect.”
Academia Sinica research fellow Wu Nai-teh (吳乃德) also revealed the results of a similar survey conducted by the academy over the past three years, which found that the percentage of people willing to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese military invasion has dropped from 75.9 percent in 2016 to 69.1 percent last year and further to 67.1 percent this year.
The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy survey, conducted from Jan. 12 to Jan. 19, collected 1,597 valid samples from Taiwanese living in Taiwan proper and Penghu, and has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Additional reporting by CNA
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS