Taiwan residents agree US will not come to their aid if China invades, are divided on threat level

[beijingwalker]

Taiwan residents agree US will not come to their aid if China invades, are divided on threat level​

Caitlin McFall, Aishah Hasnie
Fri, April 7, 2023 at 2:32 AM GMT+8

U.S. defense officials have been sounding the alarm that China could launch an invasion on the self-ruled island of Taiwan by 2027, and though Taiwanese residents are divided on their concerns over the imminent threat, they are in apparent agreement in believing the U.S. will not come to their aid.

President Biden turned heads last year when he said he would send boots on the ground to counter the forewarned Chinese threat, but the Taiwanese are not convinced.

"I'm not really sure because, you know, it's always about the interest of that… particular moment or particular time," one Taipei resident by the name of Jerome told Fox News Wednesday. "I think it's always kind of a complicated issue for [Americans] to think about."

Some are looking at the U.S. response to the war in Ukraine, noting Washington’s refusal to deploy troops to Kyiv over concerns it would spark a third world war or prompt a nuclear response from Russia.

"You see what happened in Europe now?" one Taipei resident said in answer to questions from Fox News on whether they thought the U.S. would to come to their aid should China attack. "That's very clear. Why we should lie to ourselves [and] say America will come? I don't think so."

But the geopolitical realties when it comes to Ukraine and Taiwan are different.

The U.S., though it does not recognize the island as a sovereign nation under the "One China" policy, has made commitments to Taipei under the Taiwan Relations Act and warned the Chinese Communist Party about making any attempts to change the status quo in the region.

According to the State Department, the U.S. has committed itself to make "available defense articles and services as necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability."

The Taiwan Relations Act also says the U.S. "maintains our capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of Taiwan."

The U.S. holds no such commitment to Ukraine, which is not a part of NATO, but has still provided billions in military aid. Still, Taiwan residents remain unconvinced about the U.S. commitment toward them.

"I think Americans support themselves," one resident told Fox News from Taipei. "So, we don't trust [them]. They only care about themselves."

As to whether the people of Taiwan are concerned by China’s aggressive posture, they appeared more divided, with one individual who shook their head and said they were "not worried."

Jerome on the other hand said he believes "a lot of people [are] concerned."

"You know, I heard a lot of people trying to apply for immigration to other countries," he added.

A third individual said, "People are worried," but added they didn’t necessarily view it as an imminent threat.

"We are not really thinking about how we are going to have a war right now, maybe 10 years later or 20 years later," the individual added.

Taiwan residents agree US will not come to their aid if China invades, are divided on threat level

U.S. officials have been sounding the alarm about an imminent invasion of Taiwan by China, but Taiwanese residents are not convinced the U.S. will actually aid them in such an occurrence.

news.yahoo.com

 

[beijingwalker]

Taiwanese are Chinese, they are not stupid like the public in the west and India.

 

[Get Ya Wig Split]

"Taiwan residents" aka 5 people lol

 

[etylo]

It would be totally stupid and brainless if Taiwanese still trust the Americans will send troops to rescue them in case of war with mainland after seeing how Americans shun away from the Ukraine war and how Americans dumped them ROC twice in history.

 

[VCheng]

Taiwanese residents are divided on their concerns over the imminent threat, they are in apparent agreement in believing the U.S. will not come to their aid.

The Taiwanese people can always decide to rejoin mainland China under communist rule. If they decide so, no one can stop them. Very simple.

 

[JSCh]

Taiwanese are overwelhmingly ethnically Chinese, they should be smart enough to figure out by now, that given the recent history involving US, to conclude that the US previous promises or assurance are worthless.

I think it is safe to say, nobody really know the answer. Not even the current president or the US gov't, because nobody can predict what the situation would be like in the future.

But all things consider, looking at the current trajetory of the relative strength between US and China, and possibility of future changes in US domestic politic, it would be hard for the Taiwanese to be optimistic.

 

[lightning F57]

US mainly cares about the semi conductor industry in Taiwan and its economic power, if it became part of a single party chinese system that would have world wide ramifications. It would put china in an even stronger position to now not to mention the strategic advantage of keeping military assets there facing Pacific and other adversaries like Japan.

I also don't see the US direct militarily getting involved to help Taiwan, it will be more like technical and military aid as Ukraine. Biden would also prefer a scorched earth policy in Taiwan to stop China getting hold of key infrastructure. That is my 2 cents.