More Than Half of Americans Favor Defending Taiwan If China Invades: Poll

Flags of Taiwan and the United States are placed for a meeting between U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and Su Chia-chyuan, president of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan, on March 27, 2018. Tyrone Siu/Reuters

The majority of the American public supports a range of U.S. policies in support of Taiwan, including the acknowledgment of its independence and sending troops to the self-ruled island if China invades, according to a recent poll.

For the first time, a slim majority (52 percent) of Americans now favor sending U.S. troops to defend Taiwan, according to a poll from The Chicago Council on Global Affairs released on Aug. 26. The poll, conducted in July, draws from a sample of more than 2,000 U.S. adults from 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.