Nearly 50% of respondents say Taiwan-U.S. ties will not change: Survey

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Nearly half of the respondents in a recent survey believe that relations between Taiwan and the United States will remain unchanged after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, a Taiwanese government think tank reported Friday.

Regarding the outlook for Taiwan-U.S. relations under Trump, 47 percent of respondents believed there would be no change, 24 percent anticipated a deterioration in ties, and 12 percent expected an improvement, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) reported at a press conference.

The remainder expressed no opinion on the matter, according to the survey results published at the press event.

The results indicate that Taiwanese are generally cautious about the Taiwan-U.S. ties, with some still harboring reservations about the uncertainties surrounding Trump's leadership style, Wu Wen-chin (吳文欽), a research fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica, said at the event.

Trump's return will bring significant changes to the global political, economic, and security landscape, which will have a profound impact on the Taiwan-U.S. relations, INDSR CEO Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) said.

He added that the survey sought to explore public opinion on defense and foreign policies and provide policymakers with a reference point to ensure policies better align with public needs.

According to the survey conducted early this month, when asked whether the U.S. would send troops to assist Taiwan in the event of a cross-strait conflict, 49 percent of respondents said they believed it would.

Fang Tsung-yen (方琮嬿), an assistant research fellow at the INDSR, said the result was similar to past surveys, indicating that public confidence in America's security commitment has not changed.

Furthermore, 38 percent of those polled said they supported Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) setting up fabs in the U.S., while 49 percent opposed the move.

The result indicated a divergence in public perceptions and expectations regarding the Taiwan-U.S. cooperation in high-tech industries, the INDSR said.

As for the public's view on Taiwan's defense budgets, the poll showed that 47 percent of respondents supported increasing defense budgets, while 37 percent said they should remain unchanged, and only 10 percent favored a budget cut.

The survey also found that among ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters, 69 percent supported increasing defense budgets, while 27 percent believed they should remain unchanged, and only 1 percent thought they should be reduced.

Among supporters of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), 29 percent supported an increase, 49 percent believed defense budgets should remain the same, and 19 percent thought they should be reduced, the survey showed.

The survey was conducted by the National Chengchi University Election Study Center between Jan. 1 and Jan. 3 through landline and mobile phone interviews.

It gathered 1,138 valid responses from people aged 18 or older and had a confidence value of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.91 percent.

When asked about Trump's remarks suggesting that Taiwan should significantly increase its defense budget, Lee said at the press event that it is important for Taiwan to focus on the broader implications of the U.S. president-elect's comments rather than getting caught up in the details.

Citing Trump's claim that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war within "24 hours" after taking office as an example, Lee said the focus should not be on 24 hours, 24 days or any other timeframe, but rather his overarching goal to end the war and the fact that he has already been in contact with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The INDSR CEO said that when Trump said during his election campaign that Taiwan should devote 10 percent of its GDP to defense budgets, the focus should be that Taiwan needs to take the matter seriously rather than fixating on "10 percent of GDP," as he found Trump's statements are often exaggerated.