A new poll conducted by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy has found that 72.5% of Taiwan’s people would fight for Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. That’s down from 79.8% who said the same in another poll the foundation conducted last year.
The number of respondents who said they’d fight for Taiwan if a declaration of Taiwanese independence triggered a Chinese attack is also down. This year, 62.7% of respondents said they’d fight against any Chinese attempt to stop Taiwan’s independence. Last year, that number was 71.5%.
The poll found a mixture of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the state of Taiwan’s democracy. 54% of respondents said they were happy with the current situation, while 40% said they are dissatisfied. Meanwhile, 50% of respondents said they are optimistic about the future of Taiwan’s democracy, while 36% are not optimistic.
There was more agreement about the threat misinformation poses to democracy. 62% of respondents said that false information is a serious threat to Taiwan’s democracy, and nearly 80% said that misinformation is not legitimate free speech and the government should not tolerate it.
The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy conducted the poll between August 10-15, surveying adults in Taiwan aged 20 and above. It received 874 responses via landline telephone and 425 responses via mobile phone. The poll had a 95% level of confidence and margin of error of 2.72%.