Re: US-China public opinion polls

On Dec 11, 8:14 am, PaPaPeng <PaPaP...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"fyfp...@xxxxxxxxx" <fyfp...@xxxxxxxxx> should read closely the
survey below. There are answers in it to your ongoing discussion
about Chinese (your students') attitudes.

Dec 12, 2007 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IL12Ad01.html

Two countries, one survey
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - While the Chinese and US publics and elites hold
generally favorable views of each other, distrust between them also
persists, according to a new "mirror" survey of both countries
released here Monday.

The survey, entitled "Hope and Fear: American and Chinese Attitudes
Towards Each Other" found that a majority of US citizens consider
China's growing economic power as at least a "potential threat" to US
interests, while Chinese were most concerned about Washington's
intentions regarding Taiwan and preventing their country from becoming
a world power.

A majority of Chinese also believe their country will overtake
Washington as the world's leading superpower within the next 20 years,

I would give it 30 years.

while only one in five US citizens believe Beijing will reach that
status. About half of the US public believes Washington will retain
its leading position, while less than one in four Chinese agree with
that view.

The survey, which asked the same questions of respondents on a range
of issues in both countries during August and September, was sponsored
by the Committee of 100 (C-100), a non-governmental organization made
up of Chinese-American leaders who broadly support engagement between
the two countries. It was conducted by the Zogby International polling
firm.

In addition to interviewing members of the general public, the survey
also identified discrete groups of "opinion leaders" and "business
leaders" in both countries, as well as "Congressional staffers" in the
US who help determine elite opinion.

The survey's release comes at a moment of relative stability in ties
between the two nations, which have cooperated closely in recent years
on such hot-button issues as North Korea's nuclear program.

Despite the presence in the current administration of a number of
"China hawks", including former Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and
Vice President *** Cheney, President George W Bush has, if anything,
tried to solidify ties with Beijing over the past seven years.

Still, tensions have persisted. Washington has pushed hard for Beijing
to address its huge bilateral trade deficit in part by revaluing the
yuan and by stricter enforcement of intellectual property rights. It
has also criticized China occasionally for not being more forthcoming
about its military budget and strategic planning

Isn't this crazy? Why should China tell the U.S. these type of
information? And if the U.S. has no interest in containing China,
these kind of information should not matter to the United States. Did
China ask the U.S. for the same info?


and for its relations
with so-called "rogue" states, including Sudan, Myanmar, Iran and
Zimbabwe.

Relations with other countries are none of the business to a foreign
country, and the U.S. should stop interferring in the internal affairs
of other countries, including China.


Beijing has its own complaints, including US arms sales to Taiwan and
Washington's efforts to draw India, Japan, Vietnam, Australia and
other countries on the Chinese periphery into an informal geostrategic
alliance as a check to Beijing's expanding military reach.

This is the major cause of friction to all countries dealing with the
U.S.


The survey found that publics in both nations hold mostly favorable
views of each other, although negative impressions of China were more
widespread in the US

Sixty percent of Chinese respondents held generally favorable views of
the US, while only one in five had an unfavorable view. In the US, the
split was 52% favorable toward China; 45%, unfavorable.

The views of Chinese business and opinion leaders were significantly
more positive about the US than the public at large - up to 94% in the
case of business leaders.

The views of their elite counterparts in the US, on the other hand,
tended to be consistent with those of the US public, with the
exception of Congressional staffers, only 35% of whom held favorable
opinions of China, while 62% said their views were unfavorable.

Both publics considered the relationship with each other as among
their most important. From a list of seven nations, Chinese
respondents said the US was Beijing's most important partner; US
respondents ranked China as the third most important partner, behind
Britain and Japan.

More than seven out of 10 respondents in both countries said they
believed that bilateral trade benefits both economies, although
enthusiasm was somewhat higher in China.

Still, about two out of three US respondents said they believed
China's emergence as a global economic power represented either a
"serious" or a "potential" threat to the US, while one in three said
China's emergence either represented no threat or that China should be
seen as an "economic partner". Three in four US respondents said they
blame China for the loss of US jobs, while the vast majority of
Chinese respondents took a more benign view of their effect on the US
and the world economy.

US respondents expressed similar concerns about the growing strength
of Beijing's military power - 75% said they saw it as either a
"serious" or a "potential" threat. That was up from 66% who took that
position in a C-100 survey taken two years ago.

Any military power gains by a foreign country is a threat to the U.S.
as the U.S. continue to keep other countries down as a potential rival
to the #1 spot.


Still, nearly two-thirds of US respondents - compared to only
one-third of Chinese respondents - agreed with the statement that
Washington "accepts China's status as a rising power and wants a
collaborative relationship". One-third of US respondents - and 45% of
Chinese respondents - said they believe Washington is "trying to
prevent China from becoming a great power".

Wouldn't you if you can see someone else will challenge you as the #1?


If military hostilities resulted from a declaration of independence by
Taiwan, 60% of US respondents said Washington should not intervene,
while nearly one-third supported intervention on Taiwan's behalf. Only
11% of Chinese respondents supported achieving unification with Taiwan
through military force; a majority or plurality of Chinese public and
elite respondents expressed optimism that Taiwan's status could be
resolved peacefully.

Chinese respondents expressed greater concern than their US
counterparts over global warming. Nearly seven in 10 in China said
they worried about climate change "a great deal" or a "fair amount"

How wonder how many really do understand the problem of global warming
in China?

compared to about six in 10 US respondents who took the same position.

Chinese respondents were far more optimistic than their US
counterparts about the state and direction of their nation. Nearly 90%
of Chinese said they believe their country is on the "right track"
while nearly 60% of US respondents said they believed their country
was on the "wrong track".

The survey found little confidence among respondents in both countries
that the mass media of the other portrayed their own nation
accurately. In addition, the survey found misperceptions among elites
in both countries about the views of their publics toward each other.

Elites in the US underestimate the favorable views of China held by
the general public, while elites in China believe the views held by
their compatriots of the US are more favorable than they actually are.

Do they really give a damn?


(Inter Press Service)

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