Priming Values and Interests: Probing U.S. Public Support for Defending Taiwan

• In Event: How Do Americans View Taiwan?

Abstract

Recent opinion surveys conducted in the United States show that a majority of Americans support providing military aid—but not U.S. troops—to Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. Yet what motivates American public support for, and opposition to, committing U.S. forces to the island's defense? Through an online survey experiment implemented in August 2023, this study investigates the basis of U.S. public support for deploying American troops to defend Taiwan. The experiment randomly assigned respondents to one of five groups: four experimental groups with distinct "priming" vignettes and a control group without any vignette. The four vignettes principally differ first in the extent to which the U.S. incentives for assisting Taiwan are extrinsically or intrinsically driven and second, the degree to which U.S. foreign policy objectives for backing Taiwan are abstract or concrete. This priming experiment provides some answers as to why ordinary Americans support the use of U.S. troops in a Taiwan contingency, how various priming conditions may potentially shape the respondents' opinions, and the moral and strategic motivations for that support. This study will conclude with the policy implications of the survey experiment.

Authors

• Chung-li Wu, Academia Sinica

• Alex Min-Wei Lin, National Chengchi University