The majority of Taiwanese do not think that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would invade Taiwan, a poll showed yesterday, with only 25.7 percent thinking such a scenario was likely.
The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation’s latest monthly survey found that 64.5 percent of respondents do not think such an attack is very likely.
Asked if the US was likely to send troops to help defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, 47.4 percent of respondents said they were confident of such support, but 41 percent said they had doubts.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
However, only 27.1 percent think the nation’s military would be able to repel any a PLA invasion, while 65.4 percent said they were not confident.
The survey was conducted from Sunday to Tuesday last week, just before the PLA conducted a live-fire exercise in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
The poll found that 86.1 percent of respondents believe such military exercises by China do not serve to improve cross-strait relations, while 3.3 percent think they do help.
The survey found that 37.4 percent of respondents support the idea of Taiwan’s independence, 25.7 percent prefer maintaining the “status quo” and 23.8 percent favor unification with China.
A little more than half of respondents, 50.3 percent, believe that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) recent visit to Swaziland — now known as the Kingdom of Eswatini — did not help boost the nation’s international visibility, while 40.3 percent believe that it did.
The poll also found that 69.9 percent of respondents are dissatisfied with the nation’s international position and diplomatic situation, while 20.1 percent are satisfied.
In response to the statement: “Cross-strait relations are more important than diplomatic relations and to prevent provoking the Chinese Communist Party, it would be best for Taiwan to stop any efforts to boost its international position,” 65.6 percent of the respondents disagreed and 23.5 percent agreed.
Tsai’s public approval rating has dropped to 32 percent, a decline of 1.5 percentage points from a similar poll last month, and the third-lowest level since she took office on May 20, 2016, the poll found.
Her disapproval rating has climbed 2 percentage points to 49 percent since last month’s poll.
Former minister of national defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲), who attended the foundation’s news conference on the poll results, said that the president should be more flexible in maintaining the “status quo.”
She could write a letter to the WHO and the UN secretary-general to express Taiwan’s desire and determination to join these organizations, he said.
Tsai Ing-wen could also propose a visit to the US in the wake of last month’s passage of the US’ Taiwan Travel Act, as her passiveness has been one of the reasons the public is dissatisfied with her, Michael Tsai said.
This month’s survey was conducted via telephone interviews among randomly selected adults over the age of 20. It collected 1,072 valid samples and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.99 percentage points.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS