Japanese divided on military response to China over Taiwan, Kyodo poll shows

The Japanese public is divided on whether Japan should exercise its right to collective self-defence if China attacks Taiwan, a Kyodo news agency poll found on Sunday.

The survey found 48.8% in favour and 44.2% against, while 60.4% backed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's plan to beef up the country's defence spending.

The opinion poll comes at a time when a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing has intensified following Takaichi's remarks related to Taiwan. The Japanese premier said on November 7 that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could amount to a "survival-threatening situation" and trigger a potential military response from Tokyo.

China has not ruled out using force to assert its claim to democratically-governed Taiwan, which is only 110 km (70 miles) from Japanese territory. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

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Takaichi's remarks sparked angry responses from Beijing, which also cautioned its citizens against travelling to Japan.

Takaichi has pledged to reach a defence spending goal of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal year through March, ahead of the original target of fiscal 2027, in a policy speech last month.

The approval rating for Takaichi's cabinet was 69.9%, up by 5.5 percentage points from the previous month's survey, Kyodo said.