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Most US opinion leaders back military defence of Taiwan if China invades, survey finds

  • But intervention is opposed by the majority of the American public, though support has increased in recent years, according to think tank report
  • Most foreign policy leaders and professionals also believed the US was likely to make a major bid to counter China’s rise in the next two years

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A helicopter takes off from guided-missile destroyer the USS Mustin during an operation in the Taiwan Strait in August. Most US opinion leaders surveyed favoured military defence of Taiwan in an invasion scenario. Photo: US Navy
Most foreign policy leaders and professionals in the United States support the use of American troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, but it is opposed by the majority of the US public, a new survey has found.
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The Chicago Council on Global Affairs said in a report published on Monday that most of the more than 900 surveyed opinion leaders – including executive branch officials, congressional staff, think tank scholars, academics, journalists and interest group representatives – favoured a US military defence of Taiwan in an invasion scenario.

But it found only 41 per cent of the public supported military intervention. Public support has grown significantly in recent years, however, up from 26 per cent in 2014.

In the survey of US opinion leaders – taken last August and September with the University of Texas at Austin – the defence of Taiwan was supported by 85 per cent of Republicans, 63 per cent of Democrats and 58 per cent of independents.

US President Joe Biden’s administration has signalled that China will be central in its foreign policy. Photo: Reuters
US President Joe Biden’s administration has signalled that China will be central in its foreign policy. Photo: Reuters
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The findings are a barometer of the political consensus in Washington, which has hardened in recent years against China and in favour of US support for Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing has vowed to bring under its control, by force if necessary. Beijing has stepped up its pressure campaign against Taiwan, including by poaching some of its few remaining diplomatic allies, blocking Taipei from joining multilateral institutions like the World Health Organization, and with increasing military incursions into the island’s airspace.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has signalled it will make China central in its foreign policy, even as the approach will differ from his predecessor Donald Trump in that he will work more with US allies to confront Beijing. The US State Department urged Beijing to “cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan” days after Biden was inaugurated on January 20.
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