Neighbours deem China 'belligerent': Poll

China is widely acknowledged as a world power but it may have some way to go to ease distrust towards it, going by a new survey of public perceptions of the country from around the world.

While 60 per cent of over 14,400 people who took part in a survey by China's Global Times newspaper agreed that the country was a global power, only 13.3 per cent saw it as "peaceful".

Instead, twice as many people, or 29.4 per cent, said China was "belligerent", according to the survey published yesterday.

Titled China's Global Image And International Influence In 2013, the survey polled an average of about 1,000 residents from 14 countries, spanning Australia, Britain and the United States.

Other countries are South Africa, Brazil and Kenya, as well as China's neighbours India, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, the Philippines, Russia and Vietnam. China itself was also polled.

Respondents from countries closer to China viewed it more negatively than those from farther away. Only 25.4 per cent from its neighbouring countries said they like China, compared with 36 per cent of those from elsewhere.

China's neighbours also tend to expect to have a competitive or confrontational relationship with China in the next decade, said the survey.

Interpreting the results, Dr Anit Mukherjee, an international relations expert at the S. Rajaratnam School Of International Studies, said it was "inevitable" to some extent that those closer to China would feel more fearful of its rise.

But it does not help that "over the last few years, China makes territorial claims based on dubious historical grounds - as its 'nine dash' claim line in the South China Sea is commonly perceived", he noted.

"There is a fear then that as China rises it will unilaterally challenge the status quo to dominate its neighbours," he told The Straits Times.

Other observers agree that the perception of China among its neighbours was affected by territorial disputes in the region.

China has overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea with countries including Vietnam and the Philippines. It is also contesting the ownership of a group of East China Sea isles with Japan.

The survey also found that 44.4 per cent of respondents outside China get their information about it from global media players like the US' CNN and Britain's BBC. Nearly 40 per cent do so through their own countries' TV coverage.

About 12 per cent said they learnt about China from Chinese media programmes shown in their countries. While The Global Times said this indicated "the limited influence of Chinese media on the international stage", some observers say this was higher than expected.

After all, how many Chinese learn about foreign countries by tuning into the media of these countries, Tsinghua University international relations scholar Chu Shulong told The Global Times.

Dr Mukherjee said some of the unease towards China is a result of Beijing's "lack of clarity" about what sort of a power it would become.

"The story about China's 'peaceful rise' was scripted in Beijing and it is, more or less, entirely up to Beijing to fulfil this vision," he added.

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How China is perceived

Is China already a world power?

- 76.9 per cent of respondents from South Africa and 74.2 per cent from Britain say China is a global power, the highest among the 14 countries polled.

- Over 60 per cent of those from the United States, Brazil and South Korea think China is a global power.

- 48.4 per cent of those from Vietnam, 45.5 per cent from Russia and 45.2 per cent from the Philippines recognise China as a world power

Which words best describe China's image in international affairs?

- 30.3 per cent of the respondents see China as a "confident" nation, 29.4 per cent say it is "belligerent" and 28.1 per cent say it is "complicated".

- 25 per cent chose "arrogant", "tough" or "co-operative".

- 13.3 per cent think China is "peaceful".

In what aspects can China be considered a world power?

- 73 per cent say in terms of economic power

- 34.3 per cent say "political and diplomatic influence"

- 23.6 per cent say "military power".

hoaili@sph.com.sg

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