Two-thirds of Americans see China as a military threat: poll

Chinese soldiers on the training ground. (File photo/Xinhua)

Nearly 70% of Americans consider China's emergence as a military power to be a serious or potential threat, according to the results of a 2012 survey on US-China relations.
The US-China Public Perceptions Opinion Survey 2012, conducted by the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American group focused on addressing issues in Sino-American relations, polled 4,153 people from China and 1,400 people from the US.
The survey found that in the US, 67% of the public, 81% of business leaders and 85% of opinion leaders believed China's growing military power was a serious or potential threat to the US. On the other hand, the proportion of Americans who view China as little or no threat rose from 20% in 2007 to 30% in 2012.
Fifty-eight percent of the Chinese public feel that China will become the world's leading superpower in the future, although two out of every three Chinese people also feel that the US is attempting to prevent this from becoming a reality.
On the current status of US-China relations, around half of the US respondents felt there had been no change since 2007, although the number of people who say it is improving has declined. In China, only business leaders feel that US-China relations are improving.
The American public seems fairly split on whether the US or Chinese government is mostly to blame for worsening relations, although two-thirds of the Chinese public blamed the US government.
The main concern for the Chinese public in 2012 is corruption, followed by jobs and the economy, income inequality and social security, the elderly and poverty. For Chinese opinion leaders, the decline in morality, the Taiwan issue and energy consumption were considered the three biggest issues for concern.
Predictably, both the American and Chinese public and elites held a high degree of skepticism regarding the other nation's media reporting of their own country. Perhaps more surprisingly, Americans and Chinese are also skeptical about their own nation's media reporting of the other country, although almost half of the Chinese public think their country's media reports about the US are accurate.
Respondents from both countries remain divided over whether or not to trust the other side. For the US to trust China, American elites believe pragmatic actions are required, such as focusing on improving transparency, human rights issues, fair trade, intellectual property protection and fair currency policy. Chinese elites, on the other hand, emphasized enhancing communication and cooperation, domestic economic development, trade, political reform and open government.
For China to trust the US, American elites highlighted the need to enhance communication, understand cultural differences and improve fair trade, the trade deficit and diplomatic cooperation. Similarly, Chinese elites urged better communication and cooperation, non-interference in Chinese internal matters, reduced political posturing, respecting and understanding China, and avoiding strong-arm politics.
Despite the lack of mutual trust, the survey's respondents generally held reasonably favorable views of the other country. About 55% of the American public held a favorable or somewhat favorable view of China, while about 59% of the Chinese public held a similarly positive view of the US.
Other surveys have been less optimistic. A study from the Pew Research Center, an American thinktank, found only 40% of US respondents held a positive attitude towards China in 2012, down from 51% in 2007.
Another study conducted by Gallup and China Daily found that 42% of Americans liked China compared to 44% who said they disliked China, although more than half of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 had a positive image of the country.

Source :http://www.wantchinatimes.com