A new survey released by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute shows that two-thirds of Americans believe Taiwan’s security is closely tied to the security and prosperity of the United States. The poll also found that 74 percent of respondents are concerned that China could use military force against Taiwan.
According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA), the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute released its Summer Survey on June 29. The results indicate that among all the regional security challenges included in the poll, no issue unites Americans across party lines more than China.
The survey found broad bipartisan agreement on China-related issues, including concerns over fentanyl and human rights abuses. The highest level of concern—82 percent of respondents—was about China’s role in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, making it the top-ranked issue in the survey. This concern also crossed party lines: 85 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Republicans, and 88 percent of Republicans identifying with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement expressed the same concern.
The next most pressing concerns were the Chinese government’s ability to surveil U.S. citizens (81 percent), China’s purchase of U.S. land (80 percent), and China’s theft of technology and unfair trade practices (79 percent). Americans expressed greater concern about these domestic issues than about more traditional geopolitical challenges, including China’s military expansion (75 percent), the possibility of China seizing Taiwan (74 percent), and human rights abuses (74 percent).
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Taiwan’s security is ‘vital’
The bipartisan concern also extends to policy issues. Sixty-six percent of respondents said Taiwan’s security is vital to the security and prosperity of the United States, including 72 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of Democrats.
The survey also found that 59 percent of respondents believe the United States should publicly pressure the Chinese government to release political prisoners, including Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital, and Pastor Jin Mingri, founder of the Zion Church, even if doing so could further increase bilateral tensions. Support for this position was broadly consistent across party lines, with 56 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of Republicans, and 63 percent of Republicans identifying with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement expressing support.
Views on the U.S. government’s China policy, however, were more divided along partisan lines.
Following last month’s summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, 44 percent of respondents said the administration’s current approach toward China was about right.
Among Republicans identifying with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, 60 percent approved of the administration’s current China policy, while 59 percent of Republicans overall shared that view. Democrats, by contrast, were more divided: 37 percent said the Trump administration was not being tough enough on China, while 32 percent believed its approach was appropriate.
Overall, only 12 percent of Americans surveyed felt the U.S. government was being too tough on China.
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Other key findings
According to a report by Bloomberg, Americans’ concern about potential risks posed by China generally increased with age. On major China-related issues, the gap in concern between the youngest and oldest respondents ranged from 20 to 30 percentage points.
One exception, however, was views on China’s censorship and surveillance within its own borders, where younger and older Americans expressed nearly identical levels of concern.
According to Voice of America, several findings in the poll’s 15-page report were particularly noteworthy: 81 percent of respondents said the United States has a moral obligation to advocate for human rights and democracy in international affairs whenever possible; 63 percent said it is extremely important for the United States to expand its domestic defense industrial production capacity.
Regarding the Middle East, 76 percent said preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is extremely important to U.S. security and prosperity, while 65 percent said Israel’s security is also extremely important.
About 66 percent said Taiwan’s security is extremely important to U.S. security and prosperity While 69 percent said the Russia-Ukraine war is extremely important to U.S. security and prosperity, and 58 percent supported continued U.S. arms supplies to Ukraine.
In the Western Hemisphere, 72 percent supported prosecuting Venezuelan officials over drug trafficking, narco-terrorism, and related crimes, while 69 percent supported prosecuting Cuban officials over attacks against Americans and human rights abuses.
Regarding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 73 percent of respondents said that maintaining U.S. membership in NATO is extremely important to America’s security and prosperity, while 72 percent said the United States should respond with military force if a NATO member is attacked.
This year’s survey by the Reagan Institute was the first to include Republicans under the age of 30 who identify with the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement as a distinct sample group. According to the institute, the findings challenge the conventional narrative that younger MAGA Republicans are isolationists. Seventy-two percent of respondents in this group said the United States should be more engaged in and take a leadership role in international affairs, while only 19 percent believed the country should reduce its involvement and responses to international issues.
The institute also said that support among Americans for the principle of “peace through strength” is stronger than ever. Eighty-two percent of respondents believe that a strong U.S. military is essential to maintaining peace and prosperity both at home and abroad, with majorities across the political spectrum sharing that view.
