Many Taiwanese believe that Japan would come to Taiwan's aid militarily if China invades the self-ruled island, a survey released on Tuesday showed.
The survey published by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed that 58% of the people polled thought it possible that Japan would dispatch troops for Taiwan's defense, while 35% of the respondents said they did not think so.
The poll also showed that 65% of the respondents believed the United States would come to Taiwan's aid militarily should China invade, while 28.5% felt it would not.
In the survey, 64.3% of the respondents disagreed that China would one day invade, while 28.1% agreed. The figure for those who said China could invade Taiwan was more than double that of the previous survey.
The overseas activities of the Self-Defense Forces are strictly limited under Japan's war-renouncing postwar Constitution.
Taiwan and mainland China have been separately governed since they split as a result of a civil war in 1949. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification by force if necessary. Their relationship has deteriorated during President Tsai Ing-wen's tenure, which began in May 2016.
The survey, conducted by computer-assisted telephone interviewing with a random sample of 1,075 adults from around the island, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% confidence interval.