Europeans Want to Stay Neutral in a U.S.-China War

There is a clear consensus in favor of neutrality in every European country surveyed.

A new poll conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations contains several interesting findings, including a strong preference across Europe for neutrality in the event of a U.S.-China war over Taiwan:

The perceived closeness of Europe to the US does not translate into a willingness to support the US against China in a hypothetical conflict over Taiwan. Despite America’s involvement in standing up to Russia, few Europeans believe that they should return the favour. If a conflict broke out between the US and China over Taiwan, on average, only about a quarter would like their country, or Europe, to take America’s side, whereas a clear majority would like to remain neutral.

The results vary a bit depending on the country in question, but there is a clear consensus in favor of neutrality in every European country surveyed. When Macron said earlier this year that Europeans should be wary of being dragged into crises that are not their own, he was expressing a view shared by most Europeans. Even in the most relatively “pro-American” countries, Sweden and Poland, most respondents favored neutrality in such a conflict. In Germany and Italy, neutrality leads taking the U.S. side by 40 points or more. This shouldn’t come as any surprise, since European states have no reason to take the U.S. side in a war on the far side of the world and they have no obligation to intervene on behalf of Taiwan.