Taiwanese identify Japan as favorite foreign country: survey

The survey found that when asked to name their favorite foreign country, 38 percent of respondents mentioned Japan.

Coming a distant second was the United States, named by 5 percent of respondents, followed by Switzerland, named by 3 percent.

The results showed that although only 2 percent of respondents picked China as their favorite foreign country, 34 percent said China was the country that Taiwan should grow closest to.

Another 31 percent thought Taiwan should move more closely toward Japan, and 20 percent supported moving closer to the United States.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they have a feeling of closeness for Japan, and 90 percent described Japan as a charming country that people would want to travel to, with many attracted to Japan's natural landscape, hot springs, festive culture and cuisine.

Seventy-nine percent of respondents thought Japan is an economically powerful country, while 44 percent said it is

trustworthy. The sense of trust, according to 65 percent of respondents, derives from the cultural connection between Taiwan and Japan.

On current Taiwan-Japan relations, 64 percent of respondents described them as average, while 29 percent said they are good. Only 7 percent said relations are poor.

Looking ahead, 55 percent of respondents believed relations between the two sides will continue to improve, while 7 percent thought they will worsen.

The survey was conducted between Nov. 17 and Dec. 12, 2008 among 1,040 people by the Nielsen Company for the Interchange Association.

It had a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

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