SINGAPORE -- Is there life in outer space? many Asians think so according to results of a regional poll published in a Singapore newspaper on Thursday.

A survey conducted by Hong Kong-based cable TV channel Star Movies showed nine out of 10 people in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore believe aliens exist.

Ninety-eight percent of the respondents in Taiwan said they believe there is life elsewhere in the universe, followed by 95 percent in China, 94 percent in Hong Kong, and 89 percent in Singapore, according to the results published in the ***Straits Times***.

The regional poll involved 83,000 people aged 18 and up. At 49 percent, those responding from Taiwan constituted the largest percentage believing or agreeing with the statement, "I can recognize an alien."

Forty percent of those from Singapore shared this view compared with 32 percent for both China and Hong Kong.

"I've always thought that aliens, along with UFOs, were more of a Western phenomenon," Cheryl Er, assistant marketing manager of Star TV Singapore, was quoted as saying.

"But this poll shows that we Asians are also big on aliens," she said.

Two out of three respondents think aliens are friendly, with 70 percent in China reflecting this view and 40 percent in Taiwan.

Half of those polled said they believe aliens have abducted humans. This perception was backed by 79 percent in Taiwan, 60 percent in China, 55 percent in Hong Kong and 51 percent in Singapore.