US public backs active role in global affairs, including Taiwan defence, poll finds

This view contrasts with US President Donald Trump’s isolationist bent and pivot towards homeland security, something analysts say could “complicate” decision making in the event of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait. According to an annual survey published on Thursday by the Ronald Reagan Institute, a US non-profit organisation created by the former US president, 64 per cent of Americans, a “record high” in the eight years of polling, said the US should be “more engaged and take the lead in international affairs”, in contrast to 33 per cent who preferred less engagement. Nearly nine out of 10 Americans questioned…