More than 60% of Taiwanese people approve of the recent meeting between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. That's according to a recent survey conducted by The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) which shared the results on Friday. Only 22% of respondents expressed disapproval of the meeting.
The survey was conducted from April 9 to 11 and included responses from 1,068 people over the age of 20.
The survey refers to a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. The meeting was held during Tsai’s transit through the U.S. as she returned from visiting Taiwan’s Central American Allies. In response, China launched several days of military drills around Taiwan. This was not the first time China sent out warnings after Taiwan's having contact with U.S. officials. After U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August of 2022, China also launched a series of live-fire military drills around Taiwan.
The survey results showed that a majority of respondents approve of the Tsai-McCarthy meeting regardless of age, educational background, occupation, or geography, However, political party affiliation had a significant impact on responses. 55% of those identifying as supporters of the Kuomintang (KMT) party disapproved of the meeting. Among all other party affiliations a majority of respondents approved of the meeting.
Chair of the TPOF Yu Ying-lung (游盈隆) said the survey shows that the vast majority of Taiwanese people are happy to see a strengthening of Taiwan-U.S relations. He added that the results show that most Taiwanese are pro-U.S.. He says this will not only shape Taiwan's 2024 presidential election, but will also be a key factor in shaping Taiwan's political development in the long term.