New survey shows 60% of Taiwan residents say “China's threat against Taiwan has increased”

“The broad topics covered in the survey include the trustworthiness of the United States and its changes over time, the threat of China, and how respondents in Taiwan interpret American and Chinese signals,” said James Lee, assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of European and American Studies.

The survey found that 80.6 percent of Taiwanese residents believe that Taiwan and China are not the same country, while 13.6 percent say that Taiwan and China are the same country.

The report also found that the US's trustworthiness increased by 7.2 per cent, from 34 per cent in 2023 to 41.2 per cent this year, reports Voice of America. Taiwanese residents' opinions are divided on whether the US will defend Taiwan if Trump is re-elected, while a Biden administration does not.

“Many people in Taiwan don't believe that China is trustworthy. This trend has been very consistent and stable over the past four years. Only about 10 percent of Taiwanese believe that China is trustworthy,” Jude Blanchett, the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, told Voice of America.

The survey comes at a time when tensions between Taiwan and China are at a high. On Sunday, Taiwan's Defense Ministry found 22 PLA aircraft and 8 PLAN ships operating around Taiwan, with 15 of the aircraft crossing the median line and entering Taiwan's northern, southwestern and eastern ADIZ as of 6 a.m. The ministry said it monitored the situation and took action accordingly.

Tensions are rising as Taiwan prepares for the annual Han Kuang military drills scheduled to take place from July 22-26.

According to a statement from Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, the exercise aims to refine operational plans in the face of the growing threat from the Chinese PLA.

The Defense Ministry said, “In recent years, the PLA has increased the military threat to our country. With the enemy's potential actions and operational thinking rapidly evolving, the ROC Armed Forces have been refining operational plans for defense to meet our needs.”

A report by Taiwan's Central News Agency said the focus this year is on undetermined combat scenarios aimed at testing decentralised command, updated rules of engagement (ROE) and troops' reactions to nighttime operations.