Only 4 per cent of respondents said they would support sending arms to Taiwan, and just 2 per cent supported sending in troops.

Weber said the lack of appetite to assist Taiwan militarily could simply be geography. “It’s pretty far away for some respondents and they don’t regard it as their conflict, whereas Ukraine is right in their neighbourhood,” she said.

The findings come less than two weeks after US President Joe Biden told 60 Minutes that the US would commit military forces in the event of an “unprecedented attack” by China – a move that would draw Australia into an unwanted future conflict.

Pressed if that would involve US men and women – unlike in Ukraine, where the president has ruled out sending American troops – Biden answered: “Yes”.

While Biden sought to walk back his comments at the United National General Assembly last week, his sentiments, which he has made before, deviate from the traditional strategy used in Washington: to remain ambiguous about the sensitive issue of defending Taiwan.

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The Transatlantic Trends annual polling project takes in the views of people from 14 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the US.

Most countries had about 1500 respondents, who were predominantly surveyed between late June and early July 2022.

Democracy is also perceived to be declining, according to the research, particularly in Turkey (where 46 per cent of respondents felt it was in danger); Italy and Poland (both 32 per cent) and the US (30 per cent – 10 points higher than last year).

In somewhat better news for America – and set against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine – most respondents believe that the relationship between the US and Europe will remain stable in the next five years, while more than a quarter believe they will get closer.

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