China's influence seen
positive
BBC
Last Updated: Saturday, 5 March, 2005, 22:11 GMT
China's influence on the world is seen as positive by more
people than is the case for the US or Russia, according to a new
BBC World Service poll.
In total, 48% of people polled in 22 countries said China's
role was mainly positive. Only 30% saw it as mainly negative.
The majority of respondents were also positive about the
communist nation's growing economic power.
But far fewer people wanted to see an increase in its military
might.
Even in neighbouring Asian countries, which have historically
been suspicious of China's dominance, opinions were relatively
benign.
An exception was Japan, where only 22% of people polled said
China had a mainly positive influence.
Most Japanese respondents expressed no opinion, with only 25%
saying China's role was negative.
Click here to see a table of the results
The survey of 22,953 people was conducted for the BBC World
Service by the polling organisation GlobeScan, together with the
Program on International Policy Attitudes (Pipa) at the
University of Maryland.
Steven Kull, director of Pipa, said: "It is quite remarkable
that with its growing economic power, China is viewed as so
benign, especially by its Asian neighbours."
"However, this cordial view... does appear to depend on China
restraining itself from seeking to convert its burgeoning
economic power into a threatening military presence."
Economic growth
In 17 of the 22 nations polled, more people thought China had
a positive influence than a negative influence.
China came out favourably when the results were compared with
similar questions looking at the global influence of Russia and
the US.
An average of 38% of respondents saw the US as having a
positive influence, with just 36% saying the same for Russia.
Indeed China, at 48%, is almost on a par with Great Britain,
which scored 50%.
China's growing economic power is also seen as positive in the
majority of nations polled.
Even in Mexico - whose manufacturers are often in direct
competition with those in China - 54% of people polled were
positive about China's economic rise.
But China's growing military might appears to be a less
welcome aspect of its increasing global standing.
Only 24% of respondents said a rise in China's military power
was a positive development, while 59% said it was negative.
Among the most concerned nations were Australia, Japan and the
US, as well as many European nations.
The EU is currently considering lifting its embargo on arms
sales to China.
A BBC correspondent in Beijing, Tony Cheng, says China has
rarely felt the need to look beyond its borders for reassurance
in the past.
But China is opening up. Widespread use of the internet and
expansion of the mass media have brought the rest of the world
into ordinary people's homes for the first time.
According to our correspondent, there is therefore an
increasing concern about how the country is perceived, with
Chinese citizens aware that progress will only come if they
engage with the rest of the global community.
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