Seventy percent of Japanese view Taiwan as an independent country and support establishing formal diplomatic relations between the nations, a poll published yesterday by a Taipei-based think tank showed.
The Indo-Pacific Strategic Think Tank (IPST) worked with the Japanese Sankei Shimbun’s polling company to conduct a survey on Japanese public opinion of Taiwan and cross-strait relations.
The survey showed that 71.1 percent of Japanese respondents said they support establishing diplomatic ties with Taiwan, 71.2 percent view Taiwan as an independent nation and 55 percent feel closest to Taiwan among nine Asian countries.
Photo: CNA
When asked which person most represents Taiwan, 53.8 percent chose late singer Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), followed by retired baseball star Kuo Tai-yuan (郭泰源), who pitched for Japan’s Seibu Lions from 1985 to 1997, at 18.6 percent and late president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) at 16.7 percent.
Four percent of respondents said President William Lai (賴清德), the poll showed.
Regarding cross-strait relations, only 8.2 percent of participants said they viewed Taiwan as part of China and 20.6 said they were unsure about the issue.
Fifty percent said they believe that a war would not occur in the next decade, 23.6 percent think conflict is likely and 26.4 percent remain neutral, the poll showed.
On late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s statement that “a Taiwan contingency is a contingency for Japan,” 38.3 percent said they supported it, 30 percent opposed it and 31.8 percent did not reply either way, it showed.
If a conflict were to break out, 52.1 percent said they expected that the US would support, but not directly intervene, 39.1 percent expect a US intervention and 8.9 percent believe the US would not assist Taiwan.
As for Japan’s role in a hypothetical conflict, 46.6 percent of respondents said they believed Japan should provide legally permissible support, 41.4 percent support economic sanctions and 12 percent believe Japan should not intervene at all, the poll showed.
The survey found that 40.6 percent of respondents said they believe Japan should bolster economic engagement with Taiwan, while 26.7 percent said they prefer prioritizing security cooperation, 16.1 percent support emphasizing cultural exchanges and 10.2 percent prefer focusing on political relations.
Regarding what they like and dislike most about Taiwan, the majority said they liked Taiwan’s proximity to Japan and the friendliness of Taiwanese, such as how it assists Japan during natural disasters, while 53.8 percent cited Taiwan’s chaotic traffic as a major drawback, the poll showed.
The survey was conducted on Sept. 21, with more than 3,000 adult respondents from eight major cities, IPST said, adding that the poll consisted of 14 single-choice questions, asked over the telephone.
The IPST is a new research organization founded by Taipei-based political commentator Akio Yaita that takes inspiration from Abe’s Indo-Pacific Strategy to highlight Taiwan’s democratic freedoms and its strategic importance to regional peace and stability.
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