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Last fall, as the United States Senate unanimously passed the first round of the TAIPEI Act – legislation aimed at strengthening U.S. support for Taiwan’s global standing and diplomatic ties with other nations – the Taiwan public overwhelmingly supported closer economic and political ties with the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center survey.
By a nearly two-to-one margin, people in Taiwan rate the U.S. more favorably than mainland China. There is widespread support for increased economic and political ties with Washington; enthusiasm for similar relations with mainland China is much more muted. Still, even as people are skeptical about closer political relations, half would embrace closer economic ties with mainland China. Younger people are particularly likely to support closer relations with the U.S., and they are less likely to embrace closer relations with China.
Part of this story relates to political and national identity. Those who align with Taiwan’s incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which asserts that there is a Taiwanese national identity separate from Chinese identity, show more support for increased ties with the U.S. than with Beijing. Supporters of the Kuomintang (KMT), the opposition party that ruled Taiwan for decades prior to 2000 and favors closer relations with the mainland, favor mainland China. Many in Taiwan do not feel particularly close to any major political party, however, and among this group positive feelings for the U.S. are much stronger than favorable attitudes toward mainland China.
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