More than half of mainland Chinese citizens oppose the use of force to unify with under any circumstances, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
, designed jointly by the Atlanta-based Carter Center and Emory University, found that 55.1 per cent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances”, while 24.5 per cent disagreed or somewhat disagreed. A fifth of respondents were neutral.
Despite results showing high opposition to the use of force, Wednesday’s survey also revealed that many Chinese may accept eventual military action.
Only 18.1 per cent of respondents said there was “no military action needed” when asked how long China should wait to resolve the Taiwan issue before using force.
Given the option of waiting for one, five, 10, 25 or more than 25 years, the most common response – selected by 33.5 per cent – was “within five years”.
Quite an odd survey result. A slim majority oppose the use of force under any circumstances, but an overwhelming majority say that military action is needed, and a third say it needs to happen within five years.