The majority of respondents to a survey by French defense researchers showed support for Taiwanese to decide their own future, despite arguments from China to the contrary.
The survey findings were included in a recent 103-page report published jointly by the French think tank Descartes Foundation and the Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defense.
The two institutions conduct an annual survey of the French public’s views on major wars and conflicts.
Photo: Reuters
As part of this year’s study, the institutions interviewed 4,000 French people in August to explore their views on narratives surrounding four current issues: Russia’s war with Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict, the conflict between France and Mali due to military operations, and the heightening tension in the Taiwan Strait.
Descartes Foundation research director Laurent Cordonier, who headed the report, said that aggressors in international conflicts tend to develop narratives that rationalize their actions.
The report aimed to explore the effects of foreign information manipulation and interference related to such conflicts, he said.
In the survey, Cordonier cited statements from each side of the four conflicts, and compared the respondents’ reactions to those statements with the respondents’ backgrounds to study correlations.
On the issue of tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the survey said: “Taiwan is a country separate from mainland China that has its own system. However, China maintains that Taiwan is one of its provinces and does not rule out using force to assert sovereignty over it.”
The survey cited three statements from the Chinese government on the issue of Taiwan: “By supporting the Taiwan government, the US and other Western powers illegally intervene in China’s internal affairs”; “Taiwan has historically belonged to China and is part of China’s territory”; and “Only the Chinese government has the right to decide Taiwan’s future.”
The survey results showed that 28.4 percent of respondents completely agreed or somewhat agreed with the first statement, while 46.7 percent completely disagreed or somewhat disagreed.
Those who agreed with the second statement accounted for 20.3 percent, and those who disagreed made up 48.4 percent.
On the third statement, only 11 percent agreed, while 72.2 percent disagreed.
The survey also cited three statements made by the Taiwanese government on the matter: “It is the people of Taiwan, not the Chinese government, who can freely and democratically determine Taiwan’s future,” “As a democracy, Taiwan’s ability to maintain its autonomy in the face of Chinese threats is crucial to safeguarding democratic values in Asia and around the world,” and “Taiwan has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, and China’s so-called ‘return’ of Taiwan’s sovereignty to its control is actually unification by force.”
Contrary to the response to China’s narrative, the French respondents highly supported Taiwan’s stance. A total of 79.5 percent completely agreed or somewhat agreed with the first statement, and only 6.2 percent completely disagreed or somewhat disagreed.
A total of 72.9 percent of the respondents supported the second statement, while 7.7 percent disagreed, and 69 percent agreed with the third statement, while 8.3 percent disagreed.
The results indicate the overwhelming majority of respondents agreed that Taiwan’s future should be decided by its people, Cordonier said, adding that the number was even higher than that of those expressing support for Ukraine’s position in its war with Russia.
The study also investigated the impressions of eight countries held by respondents and found that 57.7 percent held a positive impression of Taiwan, while 14.5 percent held a negative impression.
Russia was found to have the worst image, while China had the third-worst in the survey.
In general, the survey found that respondents aged 65 and older were more supportive of statements made by officials in Ukraine, Israel, France and Taiwan, and unsupportive of statements made by Russia, Hamas, Mali and China.
In terms of political affiliation, centrist voters were shown to be the most supportive of Taiwan, while far-left and far-right voters showed support for China.
Those sympathetic to democracies tended to get news from professional, international media outlets, while those sympathetic to Russia, China and other authoritarian states said they receive news from social media and YouTube.
The report also investigated how the French public believe France should respond if China attacked Taiwan. More than half (56.5 percent) of those surveyed believe that the French government should support Taiwan diplomatically and condemn China’s aggression.
However, only 16.8 percent of the respondents believe that France should send troops to help defend Taiwan.
Asked, “Should France do nothing if China attacks Taiwan, since the conflict has nothing to do with France?” 39.3 percent agreed, while 40.5 percent disagreed.
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