A survey conducted by a US think tank that included a question on the effect of Taiwan being unified with China through coercion has found that almost every US and Japanese expert polled said that their nation’s interests would be hurt by such an act.
The results, which were released on Thursday in a report compiled by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), show that the respondents from the US and Japan — academics and experts in politics and diplomacy — expressed the most concern among all those polled.
Ninety-nine percent and 98 percent from the US and Japan respectively said that such a scenario would have a negative impact on their country’s interests.
In answer to the same question, 89 percent of the experts surveyed in Taiwan had the same view, followed by 85 percent in Australia and 80 percent in South Korea.
Even a plurality of respondents in China felt that the impact would be negative for China rather than positive, by a margin of 43 percent to 40 percent, the survey indicates.
At a conference held to present the report, titled Power and order in Asia: A Survey of Regional Expectations, Bonnie Glaser, a senior CSIS adviser for Asia in the Freeman Chair in China Studies, said the figures reflect, at least among the strategic elite in China, that China needs peaceful strategies to win over hearts and minds in Taiwan because coercion would only have a negative impact on the country’s own interests.
Glaser said that in the past, some countries in Asia might have seen China’s use of coercion against Taiwan as a special case, which would not necessarily mean that Beijing would use the same tactics in Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam.
Now, she said, the situation has changed, and there is greater concern in the region that if the mainland does use coercive measures against Taiwan, it would be “a signal and evidence” that China could do the same to its other neighbors.
Meanwhile, Victor Cha, a former director for Asian affairs in the White House’s National Security Council, said that if there is coercive unification and if the US were to intervene militarily, and if such a move failed, then it could lead to an issue concerning US credibility in the region.
The survey also shows that an average of 53 percent of the respondents believe China will exert the greatest power in East Asia in 10 years, followed by 43 percent who think the US will be the dominant force.
However, despite the expectations of China’s rise, most experts continue to see ongoing US leadership in the region, even in the face of a relative decline in US power, the report said.
In addition, an average of 79 percent of the respondents expressed support for the strategic rebalance to Asia of US President Barack Obama’s administration, with China the only country in which a majority of the respondents disapproved of the rebalance, by a margin of 77 percent to 23 percent, according to the poll.
The survey was conducted among 402 strategic elites in 11 Asia-Pacific economies between March 24 and April 22, with the support of the MacArthur Foundation and media outlets in the region, including the China Times Japan’s Asahi Shimbun and South Korea’s Joongang Ilbo.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS