- Published on
The Hoover Institution Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region held Taiwanese Support for Self-Defense on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 from 1:30-3:00 pm PT through Zoom.
Taiwanese Support for Self-Defense
Taiwan sits at the center of intensifying great-power competition, where questions of deterrence, reassurance, and self-defense are no longer abstract strategic concerns but matters of everyday public debate. How do Taiwanese citizens perceive the threat from China? How do they understand the U.S. role in cross-Strait conflicts? Do they support greater investment in national defense and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan? And how willing are they to fight if Taiwan is militarily attacked?
In this talk, Wen-Chin Wu draws on evidence from multiple surveys to examine the determinants of Taiwan’s public resolve. The talk highlights two related but analytically distinct dimensions: general support for national defense and personal willingness to fight. It shows how Taiwan’s security attitudes reflect external threat perceptions, expectations of U.S. involvement, and partisan divisions within Taiwan. By foregrounding Taiwanese public opinion in debates over national security, the talk offers a mass-public perspective on Taiwan’s resolve amid coercion, uncertainty, and intensified U.S.-China competition.
Taiwan sits at the center of intensifying great-power competition, where questions of deterrence, reassurance, and self-defense are no longer abstract strategic concerns but matters of everyday public debate. How do Taiwanese citizens perceive the threat from China? How do they understand the U.S. role in cross-Strait conflicts? Do they support greater investment in national defense and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan? And how willing are they to fight if Taiwan is militarily attacked?
In this talk, Wen-Chin Wu draws on evidence from multiple surveys to examine the determinants of Taiwan’s public resolve. The talk highlights two related but analytically distinct dimensions: general support for national defense and personal willingness to fight. It shows how Taiwan’s security attitudes reflect external threat perceptions, expectations of U.S. involvement, and partisan divisions within Taiwan. By foregrounding Taiwanese public opinion in debates over national security, the talk offers a mass-public perspective on Taiwan’s resolve amid coercion, uncertainty, and intensified U.S.-China competition.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Wen-Chin Wu is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and the 2025–26 Lenore Annenberg and Wallis Annenberg Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University. He was a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute from 2019 to 2020.
Dr. Wu’s research focuses on political economy, Chinese politics, and Taiwanese public opinion on cross-Strait relations and national security. His work has appeared in The China Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, and Political Communication, among others.
Wen-Chin Wu is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and the 2025–26 Lenore Annenberg and Wallis Annenberg Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University. He was a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute from 2019 to 2020.
Dr. Wu’s research focuses on political economy, Chinese politics, and Taiwanese public opinion on cross-Strait relations and national security. His work has appeared in The China Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, and Political Communication, among others.
0 Comments