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.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
RSS