Arms or Talks: A Protege's Choice.

In this paper, I reviewed three nation wide surveys to probe Taiwan people's public opinion on self-defense and on the long-stalled U.S. arms procurement bill. Survey results show that Taiwan people have a high willingness to defend the island and to purchase U.S. arms. Results of a multinomial logit show that the consciousness of self-defense, perception of threat from China, political inclination toward the pan-Green alliance, and Taiwanese ethnicity are significantly associated with the option of an arms buildup. The author also finds that those who are more concerned about deteriorating economic prospects or those who support the pan-Blue alliance are more likely to support arms purchases together with talks. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]