Half of Americans still see China’s rise as threat, survey suggests
Majority also think US should be world’s sole military superpower, according to poll
Half of Americans still believe China’s emergence as a world power is a major threat to the United States, according to a new survey released by the Pew Research Centre on Friday.
But Islamic State, refugees fleeing from Iraq and Syria and climate change were all ranked as more worrying in the survey, which polled more than 4,000 United States citizens.
Insecurities and bluster: the roots of distrust between China and the US
In the latest of a series of surveys published by Pew, attitudes towards China remain negative but stable as tensions in the South China Sea continue to pit the two superpowers against each other.
“You’re talking about people in a country that’s used to being number one, that like to be number one and China’s clearly challenging that number one position,” said David Zweig, an expert on China and international relations at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
About 55 per cent of United States citizens interviewed in the survey said they wanted the United States to remain the sole military superpower in the world, including 67 per cent of Republican voters.
In addition, almost a quarter of interviewees said they saw China as an adversary to the United States, the same number as Russia. Both numbers haven’t changed much in recent years, according to Pew.
