A majority of Americans support an increase to the U.S. military's presence around Taiwan as the democratic island faces an increased threat from China, a new poll indicates.
More than half of Americans, 56%, said that they would support an increase in U.S. military presence as a way to discourage China from invading Taiwan and 30% indicated they would oppose such a move, according to the results of a Reagan Institute poll shared with Fox News on Sunday.
The poll comes as tensions between China and the self-governing island of Taiwan have continued to increase over the last year, with China staging multiple military drills in the Taiwan Strait in response to meetings between Taiwanese and American officials.
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Tension has continued to increase this month as Taiwan's air force scrambled fighter jets after a group of 10 Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait for the second time in less than a week.
Fears over a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan have grown since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. China considers Taiwan part of its territory and fiercely resists any move toward complete independence for the self-governing island, hinting that it would use military force in response to such a move.
Because of the threat facing Taiwan, the Reagan Institute poll found that 52% of Americans support the idea of increasing U.S. arms sales to Taiwan in an effort to deter China, compared to 31% who oppose such a move.
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Americans also voiced support for U.S. lawmakers who have held meetings with leaders from Taiwan, with 61% saying the leaders were right "because they showed support for a threatened democracy" while 21% said those meetings were wrong as they risked provoking China.
Overall, respondents showed overwhelming support for the ideas of strong American leadership abroad and increasing the strength of the military.
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"Americans have core principles that have remained consistent over time, specifically in their enduring support for a strong military, defending Ukraine against Russian aggression, and deterring China," Roger Zakheim, the director of the Ronald Reagan Institute, said in a press release.
"Our survey shows the American people want the United States to demonstrate leadership in the world in line with President Reagan’s principle of ‘peace through strength.’"
Greyplatter on June 26th, 2023 at 08:25 UTC »
In all this, does the China Communique still apply?
"the United States acknowledges that Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States does not challenge that position."
ElnightRanger on June 26th, 2023 at 06:29 UTC »
While I don’t doubt there is a significant amount of support for arming and defending Taiwan amongst certain demographics, I question the validity of any “poll” (especially one by “Reagan Institute”)that tries to gauge the opinion of 300+ million people, especially on a nuanced topic like this. Most people don’t know or care too much about Taiwan, and a war with China is a prospect only a redditor would support because they don’t understand the gravity of such a thing and probably find the Winnie the Pooh memes funny. I would like to know how the poll was conducted but the article doesn’t say. Sounds like manufacturing consent to me.
Geoffrey_Jefferson on June 26th, 2023 at 06:22 UTC »
Moses do you think Mussolini or Hitler would have considered the PRC to be fascist? Your definition of fascism is unreasonably broad. I know you're following Roger Griffin's thoughts here but perhaps you should expand your resources. I'd recommend Umberto Eco if you haven't read any of his stuff before. Your constant harping on about the PRC being evil fascists, IMO, massively detracts from any substance your other arguments may have.