TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Half of Taiwanese disagree with Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng’s (邱國正) assertion that the Taiwan Strait is “on the brink” of a heightened alert with China, according to an opinion poll released Tuesday (March 19).

In an interview with CommonWealth Magazine last month, Chiu cautioned that Taiwan needs to be ready for battle and beef up its war preparations. At the Legislative Yuan on March 7, he said the Taiwan Strait is “on the brink” of a heightened alert with China launching more frequent and closer military drills.

According to a Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) poll, 37.1% agreed with the defense chief, but 50.4% rejected his thesis. A majority of the supporters of each political party did not believe that an invasion or attack by China was imminent, per Radio Taiwan International (RTI).

Recently, an unmarked Chinese speedboat, which had been operating illegally in Taiwanese waters, capsized near the outlying island of Kinmen. Two Chinese crew members died during the incident when Taiwan’s Coast Guard chased the vessel.

Talks between Taiwan and China in the following weeks failed to find a solution. Meanwhile, Chinese coast guard ships started to appear near Kinmen.

The TPOF poll found that 46.4% of respondents were not satisfied with Taiwan’s handling of the Feb. 14 capsizing and its aftermath. A total of 32.1% approved of the way the government had dealt with the incident.

The poll was conducted by Focus Survey Research on behalf of TPOF March 11-13 and produced 1,090 valid samples with a margin of error of 2.97%.