As Taiwan’s national security is shaped by escalating military threat and great-power competition, how do Taiwanese citizens view key issues such as the extension of compulsory military service and increased defense spending? More importantly, are they willing to defend their country if a cross-Strait war breaks out, and what role does the United States play in shaping this willingness to fight? In this talk, Dr. Wen-Chin Wu will present findings from a series of surveys conducted among different groups of Taiwanese citizens, including military recruits, to address these interconnected questions and shed light on the public foundations of Taiwan’s defense policy.  

Speaker:

Wen-Chin Wu is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science at Academia Sinica (IPSAS), Taiwan, and a Lenore Annenberg and Wallis Annenberg Fellow in Communication at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University in 2025–26. His research focuses on comparative and international political economy, comparative authoritarianism, and cross-Strait relations, with a particular interest in economic statecraft and media dynamics in authoritarian regimes. Over the past five years, he has led a series of projects examining how Taiwanese citizens perceive cross-Strait relations and national security issues. His work has appeared in International Studies Quarterly, Public Opinion Quarterly, and The China Quarterly, among others. His co-authored article in Political Communication received the 2022 Kaid-Sanders Best Political Communication Article of the Year Award from the International Communication Association.