EDITORIAL: Lawmakers should listen to surveyA survey released this week by Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies offered further insight into how Taiwanese view the nation’s security environment and their own role in defending it. The “American Portrait” survey is a Taiwan-based telephone questionnaire survey conducted annually with the goal of understanding the public’s perception of the US and China as well as their support for US policies toward Taiwan. Polls in the US consistently show that a majority of Americans support aiding Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. Although the survey’s results revealed growing ambivalence toward a major democratic partner, it also showed clear public support for bolstering national defense. Lawmakers should take note: The public understands the importance of reinforcing Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities amid an increasingly volatile environment, and it is time legislators do the same.
