A survey conducted in September by Taiwan’s top research institution, Academia Sinica, found that just 33.9% of Taiwanese consider the United States a trustworthy country.
This is a concrete manifestation of so-called America skepticism as the island democracy faces increased coercion from a revanchist China and lacks formal security guarantees from Washington.
The poll suggests that Taiwanese society has deep-seated concerns about the reliability of its paramount security partner, despite amicable bilateral ties. The U.S. and Taiwan have in fact drawn closer since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016 and put daylight between Taipei and Beijing, which sees her ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as secessionist.