Americans Reluctant to Trust China But Recognize Opportunity in Building Ties
This survey shows Americans still think that the US should work on friendly engagement and strengthening ties with China.
Introduction
Americans perceive an increase of China’s influence in the world and US influence beginning to wane. However, they feel that the United States still holds equal economic strength to China. While many Americans are not threatened by China’s emergence as a world power, they are concerned about how its economic growth could impact the American economy. At the end of the day, regardless of these concerns, Americans still feel that the US should work on friendly engagement and strengthening ties with China.
Key Findings
- Americans sense that China’s influence in the world is increasing while US influence is decreasing, although more Americans still think that the US had an edge in 2012. When asked to choose whether the US or China is the current global economic leader, Americans are evenly divided between the two nations.
- China’s emergence as a world power does not invoke a great sense of threat for Americans, but many are concerned about the impact that China’s economic growth could have/has had on the American economy. Half say that if China’s economy grows as large as the US.
- Even with some concerns about US debt to China and China’s economic strength, majorities of Americans prefer that the US work on friendly engagement and strengthening ties with China.
Methodology
The Chicago Council’s 2012 biennial survey of public opinion was conducted from May 25 - June 8, 2012. GFK Custom Research conducted the survey for The Chicago Council online using a randomly selected sample of 1877 adults age 18 and older from their large-scale, nationwide research panel. The margin of error for this survey is ±2.8 percentage points.
The 2012 Chicago Council Survey was made possible by the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, the Korea Foundation, and the United States-Japan Foundation. The full report on the 2012 Chicago Council Survey, “Foreign Policy in the New Millennium,” is available at www.thechicagocouncil.org.
The Pew Research Center surveys were based on several telephone surveys conducted nationwide by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, including:
- March 4-March 18, 2003, with 1002 adults 18 and older, with a margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points
- April 30-May 13, 2012, among 1004 adults 18 and older, with a margin of error of ±3.7 percentage points
- January 11-16, 2012, among 748 adults 18 and older
The Gallup poll referenced was conducted by telephone February 2-5, 2012, with a sample of 1,029 adults nationwide, and a margin of error ±4 percentage points.
The German Marshall Fund Transatlantic Trends survey was based on telephone interviews conducted nationwide between June 2 and June 27, 2012. TNS opinion was commissioned to conduct the survey; the sample size was approximately 1,000 respondents with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.
