Americans back tariffs, military prep against China -Reuters/Ipsos poll
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[August 16, 2023]
By Michael Martina and Jason Lange
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bipartisan majorities of Americans favor more
tariffs on Chinese goods and believe that the United States needs to
step up preparations for military threats from the country, according to
a new Reuters/Ipsos survey.
The two-day poll, which concluded on Tuesday, revealed deep worries
among Americans about China's global influence at a time when U.S.-China
relations have fallen to their lowest point in decades.
Some 66% of respondents said they were more likely to back a candidate
in the 2024 presidential election who "supports additional tariffs on
Chinese imports."
Another 66% of respondents - including 58% of Democrats and 81% of
Republicans - agreed with a statement that the United States "needs to
do more to prepare for military threats from China."
Still, just 38% of Americans supported the possible deployment of U.S.
troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, showing the
political constraints facing any president seeking U.S. military
involvement in a conflict involving China.
The bipartisan concern about China helps explain the increasingly
combative stances Republican presidential candidates have taken toward
the world's second-largest economy.
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In recent months, Republican White House hopefuls have attacked China
daily, with each candidate trying to show voters that they are best
positioned to take on America's geopolitical foe.
Former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former
UN Ambassador Nikki Haley have all called for the United States to end
permanent normal trade relations with China, which would limit economic
ties between the countries.
Biden has sought to stabilize the intense U.S.-China rivalry through
high-level official engagement. But at recent fundraising events the
president has called its economy a "ticking time bomb" and referred to
its leader Xi Jinping a dictator.
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A staff member wearing a face mask walks
past United States and Chinese flags set up before a meeting between
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng
at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, Saturday, July
8, 2023. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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DEFENDING TAIWAN?
The online Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted nationwide, collecting
responses from 1,005 adults, including 443 Democrats and 346
Republicans. It had a credibility interval, a measure of precision,
of about 4 percentage points in either direction.
Seventy-five percent of Americans had a negative view toward China,
while 84% saw Xi at least slightly unfavorably. Some 65% felt
China's government was trying to influence the U.S. election.
While half of respondents supported aiding Taiwan with military
equipment to deter a possible Chinese attack, 42% opposed deploying
U.S. troops in Taiwan's defense, and 20% said they didn't know.
Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China as its
territory, is the main flashpoint in U.S. ties with China's
Communist government.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns has said
that Xi had ordered his military to be ready to conduct an invasion
of Taiwan by 2027, though that does not necessarily mean he will go
ahead with it.
Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under
its rule.
Biden said in 2022 that U.S forces would defend Taiwan in the event
of a Chinese invasion, appearing to go beyond the long-standing U.S.
approach of "strategic ambiguity" - not making clear whether it
would respond militarily to such an attack.
But his administration has routinely said there has been no change
to U.S. policy toward Taiwan.
(Reporting by Michael Martina, Jason Lange and Gram Slattery;
Editing by Don Durfee & Shri Navaratnam)
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