Taiwan poll reveals ‘big gap’ between defence chief, public over military threats

New survey finds half of Taiwanese do not think war with mainland is imminent despite escalating cross-strait tensions, threats

Results at odds with defence minister’s ‘worries’ over risks of potential conflict

3-MIN READ3-MIN

A Taiwanese pollster says a new survey has raised a “serious question” about public perceptions regarding a risk of a cross-strait conflict. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:58pm, 21 Mar 2024Updated: 11:57pm, 21 Mar 2024

Half of the people of Taiwan do not think the island is on the brink of war with mainland China, despite escalating cross-strait tensions and warnings from military chiefs at home and abroad, a new poll has shown.

The latest survey released by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed that 50 per cent of the island’s public did not agree with an assessment by their defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng over a potential cross-strait conflict.

At a legislature meeting in Taipei on March 7, Chiu said that amid spiralling hostility, the cross-strait situation was so “stringent” that he could not “sleep well at night”, and that he “worries” that war could break out unintentionally.

“No one can say for sure” that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would not attack Taiwan in the near term, he said, adding that “hostility has continued to rise and there are many unexpected situations that could trigger unintended incidents”.

Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng has said he could not “sleep well at night” because of a possible cross-strait conflict. Photo: AFP

Chiu was referring to mounting friction between the two sides following a series of recent marine incidents in waters off Quemoy, a Taiwan-controlled defence outpost close to the mainland city of Xiamen.