TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Descartes Foundation poll released last month found that nearly 80% of French believe that Taiwan’s future should be decided by the Taiwanese.
The poll was part of a study of how foreign narratives on contemporary conflicts enter French society. Four thousand French citizens were surveyed in August over narratives related to four key conflicts: the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas conflict, tensions between France and Mali’s military junta, and the challenges in the Taiwan Strait.
The survey included three key narratives from each side.
Pro-Taiwanese narratives were:
"The future of Taiwan should be freely and democratically decided by the Taiwanese, not the Chinese government."
"Taiwan is a democratic entity. Maintaining autonomy in the face of China is critical for defending democracy in Asia and globally."
“Taiwan has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. China’s so-called 'reunification' is unification by force.”
French respondents overwhelmingly supported the Taiwanese perspectives:
79.5% agreed with the first narrative, with 6.2% disagreeing.
72.9% agreed with the second narrative, with 7.7% opposing.
69% supported the third narrative, with 8.3% disagreeing.
Chinese narratives:
"By supporting Taiwan’s government, the US and other Western powers are illegally interfering in China’s internal affairs."
"Taiwan has historically belonged to China and is an integral part of Chinese territory."
“Only the Chinese government has the right to decide Taiwan’s future.”
The results showed:
28.4% agreed with the first narrative, while 46.7% disagreed.
20.3% agreed with the second narrative, while 48.4% disagreed.
11% agreed with the third narrative, with 72.2% opposing it.
The survey also found that 56.5% favored diplomatic condemnation if China attacked Taiwan. The majority, 62.2%, would oppose French military action to defend Taiwan, while 39.3% wanted to stay out of a Taiwan Strait conflict.
French respondents rejected Chinese narratives, while Taiwanese narratives received the highest level of support among the eight perspectives. Descartes Foundation Research Director Laurent Cordonier designed and conducted the survey.