Americans Dislike China, Waver on Whether To Help Taiwan

While Americans don’t like President Xi Jinping and see Taiwan as a more friendly ally, they remain divided over whether the U.S. should intervene if China invades Taiwan. According to the latest poll, less than 40% support using U.S. military force to protect Taiwan or selling weapons to Taiwan.

A quarter of Americans surveyed in a May 15-18 Economist/YouGov poll of 1,549 adult citizens agreed that China is likely to invade Taiwan during the next 12 months. A similar number (19%) said that it was unlikely, while almost half (44%) of those polled believed that invasion in the next 12 months was neither likely nor unlikely.

Chinese relations with Taiwan were a hot topic last week when President Trump met with President Xi Jinping in China. Concern around Taiwan appears to be on the minds of U.S. citizens as well.

Regarding whether the U.S. should prioritize preventing China from taking over Taiwan or maintaining good relations with China, 36% of people wanted to maintain good relations with China while 35% believed the U.S. should prioritize preventing China from invading Taiwan. The U.S. currently does not acknowledge the sovereignty of Taiwan, and regarding China-Taiwan relations, President Trump said last week, “I am not looking to have somebody go independent” according to the BBC.

In the YouGov poll, only 5% considered China an ally of the United States, though 25% view China as “friendly.” The plurality said that China was “unfriendly” (33%), or an “enemy” (15%). Regarding President Xi himself, more than half of respondents reported having an unfavorable opinion, while 19% viewed him favorably. Taiwan is viewed as a much stronger ally; 30% of respondents said they view Taiwan as an ally, and 40% said Taiwan is friendly to the United States.

As for whether America should support Taiwanese independence with weaponry, responses were fairly evenly dispersed: 37% of those polled said that the U.S. should sell weapons to Taiwan, while 32% said it should not.

At the moment, a $14 billion dollar arms package for Taiwan is pending President Trump’s approval. After the meeting in Beijing, Trump called the arms package “a very good negotiating chip” with China, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Thirty-five percent of Americans polled agreed that the U.S. should be willing to use miliary force to protect Taiwan from being invaded by China, while 24% disagreed. This left the plurality unsure of whether they would support the U.S. intervening with force to protect Taiwan.

The same poll also asked about the success of the 2026 summit. Twenty-eight percent of Americans thought Xi received more benefit from the talks, while only 11% thought Trump did.

At the summit, President Trump told Xi, “You are a great leader.” A minority (22%) of those polled agreed with Trump’s statement. Thirty-nine percent did not agree, and another 39% were not sure whether or not they agreed. Of poll respondents who had voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, 13% said they agreed, compared to 31% of 2024 Trump supporters. (The party division over opinions of China predates the COVID pandemic, when 2020 Pew Research found that Republicans were more likely to say China mishandled the original COVID outbreak and had contributed to its global spread.)

When asked whether trade with China makes the U.S. better or worse off, 31% of respondents said it makes the U.S. somewhat better off. The next-leading opinion, that the U.S. is neither better nor worse off, was shared by 26% of those polled.