What Does Taiwan Think of the US Factor in Cross-Strait Relations?

Recently, the U.S. government has stepped up its actions to improve U.S.-Taiwan relations. But is this changing how the Taiwanese people view U.S. support?

A few months after Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, she had a direct phone call with President-elect Donald Trump. It marked the first time a U.S. president (albeit one yet to be inaugurated) spoke directly with a president of the Republic of China since the two countries broke off official diplomatic relations in 1979. Moreover, in the call Trump referred to Tsai as the “president of Taiwan.”

The call was just a precursor. Since the beginning of 2018, Taiwan-U.S relations have shown significant improvement. The U.S. Navy sent destroyers through the Taiwan Strait while the U.S. Department of State requested that U.S. Marines be posted at the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) new complex in Taipei’s Neihu District, which is in line with the standards of other U.S. embassies. Furthermore, U.S. Congress passed the Taiwan Travel Act, which encourages visits between officials of the United States and Taiwan at all levels, in order to develop a substantive cooperative relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan. More recently, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) suggests that the United States should strengthen Taiwan’s military power by promoting U.S.-Taiwan joint military exercises, expanding military exchanges and joint training between the two sides, and sending medical vessels to visit Taiwan as part of the annual “Pacific Partners” mission.

As official exchanges become increasingly stronger, does Taiwanese public sentiment mirror these changes? A survey from the Taiwan Indicator Survey Research company (TISR) on how the Taiwanese public evaluates Taiwan’s importance to the U.S. government may help answer this question.