Over Half of Taiwanese Say "Taiwan Would Not Last 100 Days if China Invades"

Higher Education Levels Correlate with More Negative Opinions

Chinese People's Liberation Army [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] It is expected that more than half of Taiwanese people would find it difficult to endure for over 100 days if China invades Taiwan.

According to reports from Taiwanese media such as United Daily News on the 26th, the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) conducted a telephone survey from the 12th to the 14th targeting 1,079 adults aged 20 and above, which yielded these results.

When asked whether Taiwan could withstand a Chinese military invasion for more than 100 days like Ukraine, the responses were negative (51%), positive (37.8%), unsure (5.9%), and no opinion (5.3%) in that order.

Among men, the positive opinion rate (47%) and negative opinion rate (46%) differed by only 1 percentage point, but among women, negative opinions (56%) were 27 percentage points higher than positive opinions (29%).

By age group, negative opinions were higher at 92% for ages 20-24, 50% for 25-34, 57% for 35-44, 50% for 45-54, and 41% for 65 and older. Conversely, for ages 55-64, positive opinions (55%) were higher than negative opinions (35%).

In particular, it was found that the higher the education level, the more negative the opinions were, and negative opinions were also high in traditional strongholds of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party such as Kaohsiung, Tainan, Pingtung, Yunlin, and Zai regions.

Regarding the question about U.S. President Joe Biden's Tokyo remarks that military intervention would not be ruled out to defend Taiwan, more than half (50.9%) evaluated it negatively, while positive opinions were 40.4%, 10.5 percentage points lower than negative opinions.

Earlier, on the 23rd of last month, at a joint press conference following the U.S.-Japan summit held in Tokyo, President Biden responded "Yes. That is our commitment" to a reporter's question asking, "Will you militarily intervene to defend Taiwan?"

Meanwhile, the United States and China have recently been engaged in a war of nerves through military activities in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.