More than three-quarters of Japanese feel close to Taiwan, and most consider it the Asian region they are most familiar with, a survey commissioned by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan showed yesterday.
Tokyo-based Central Research Services conducted the annual survey for the office for a third time to learn how Japanese perceive Taiwan.
Asked to choose a region in Asia that they felt most familiar with — Taiwan, China, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Russia, Philippines, Vietnam or India — 46.2 percent of respondents picked Taiwan.
Photo: AP
Of the respondents, 76.6 percent said they felt “close” or “somewhat close” to Taiwan.
Asked why they felt close to Taiwan, most respondents said it was because Taiwanese are friendly and nice.
Other reasons they gave included Japan and Taiwan having a long history of engagement, strong economic connections and shared cultural elements, as well as a large Japanese-speaking population in Taiwan and mutual assistance during earthquakes or the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority of those who did not feel close to Taiwan attributed it to a lack of knowledge or concern about Taiwan-related affairs.
Sixty-five percent said that Taiwan is “very trustworthy” or “trustworthy,” citing reasons such as Taiwan being friendly to Japan and the two sides’ shared values.
Of the respondents, 72.8, percent said that the relationship between Taiwan and Japan is “good” or “somewhat good,” while only 1.2 percent said it was “bad” or “somewhat bad.”
Of those polled, 59.1 percent said the relationship would continue to develop and 26.6 percent said it would remain the same.
Asked what they thought “the most concerning issue” between Japan and Taiwan was, 44.4 percent said “the impact of the cross-strait situation on Japan.”
To maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, 57 percent of respondents chose diplomacy and dialogue, while 37 percent said cooperation between Taiwan, Japan and the US.
Of the respondents, 63.5 percent said that they were paying “some” or “close” attention to Taiwan’s presidential election next month.
The survey was conducted online from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, with 1,000 responses collected from Japanese citizens aged 20 to 89.
It had a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS