bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Bochen Han

A new survey of citizens in 25 middle- and high-income countries has found that the US is more likely than China to be seen as their most important ally – and their greatest threat.
In the survey it released on Tuesday, the Pew Research Centre polled nearly 32,000 adults from the world’s six populated continents – including those in the US and the four Asian nations of India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea – between January 8 and April 26.
Respondents were not given a list of countries from which to choose; instead, they were asked to name allies and threats that came to mind.
In Canada, Indonesia, South Africa and five other countries, the US was the most commonly mentioned threat.
By contrast, China was seen as the top threat by a plurality of respondents in just three countries: the US, Australia and Japan.
But respondents in some countries, including Brazil, Canada and Mexico, cited the US as both top threat and top ally.
“Proximity and historical conflict both seem to play an important role in which countries people see as significant threats to their own,” Pew researchers Laura Clancy, Janell Fetterolf and Jordan Lippert said in an analysis of the findings.

“The US is the only country outside the Asia-Pacific region where more than 20 per cent see China as their country’s greatest threat,” Fetterolf added in an email to the Post.
The nature of perceived threats from the US and China is also different. Those who saw the US as their country’s greatest threat were more likely to view it as an economic challenge than a security risk.
The situation was more mixed for China.
Americans and South Koreans were equally likely to label China as an economic threat and a security threat. Meanwhile, Italians and Nigerians were more likely to say China threatened their economy rather than national security.
Japan was the only country where respondents were more likely to see China as a security threat.
The survey comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration hikes tariffs on traditional US allies like South Korea and Japan, scales back investments in soft power globally and calls into question security guarantees for members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Since his second term began in January, Trump has also floated the idea of taking over Canada and Greenland, spurring waves of political backlash abroad.
Still the US was named the top ally more often than any other country in the poll, with respondents in 15 of the 24 non-US nations choosing it – including three where it tied with another country for the top spot.
It is second to Russia as the most common response for the top threat. Russia was cited as the top threat in eight countries – all European – and tied with the US in Spain.
Respondents from three of the four Asian countries considered the US their top ally, with Indonesians regarding Washington as their second most important ally, after China.
Forty per cent of respondents from Indonesia, which is not a US treaty ally, named the US as the greatest threat – more than twice the 19 per cent who named China.
Respondents in Japan and South Korea, both US treaty allies, overwhelmingly named the US as their most important ally, at 89 per cent and 78 per cent respectively.
Still, Japanese respondents cited the US as its No 2 threat after China, with 18 per cent of respondents naming it as their top concern.
China was named the top ally by a plurality of respondents in just four countries – South Africa in addition to Indonesia, and tied with the US among Kenyans and Nigerians.
Perceptions of China as the top threat are strongest in Australia and Japan, where 52 per cent and 53 per cent of respondents, respectively, ranked it first.

China is the top-ranked threat for 42 per cent of Americans surveyed, though views differ by political party. Republicans were more likely to name China, while Democrats were more inclined to regard Russia as the greater threat.
Views of both China and the US have changed over time. Since 2019 – the last time Pew surveyed a similar group of countries – the share of Canadians naming the US as their country’s greatest threat has almost tripled, to 59 per cent from 20 per cent.
In Turkey and Argentina, however, perceptions of the US as a threat have declined significantly – dropping from 46 to 30 per cent in Turkey, and from 40 to 24 per cent in Argentina.
Meanwhile, the share of Canadians who called China the leading threat has fallen by 15 percentage points since 2019. But the proportion of Indians who named China as their greatest threat has risen by 16 percentage points over the same period.


For South Korea to reset relations with China, it must withstand US pressure

Venezuela releasing ‘significant number’ of prisoners in bid to ‘seek peace’

China warns of ‘law of the jungle’ as US exits global bodies

Maduro’s fate in Venezuela hardens North Korea’s nuclear resolve

United States

In global survey, US cited more often than China as greatest ally and threat

A Pew Research global survey suggests the United States is regarded as a more important ally than China, but also as potentially a greater threat. Photo: AP

Chart: Pew Research Centre

Apparently impatient Trump slaps 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shows a letter on tariffs from US President Donald Trump to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, during a press briefing at the White House on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Counsellor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro gets ready for an interview outside the White House in Washington on Monday. Photo: AFP

Trump’s 25% tariff surprise for South Korea, Japan upends trade talk tactics

Pusan Newport Terminal in Busan. South Korea is looking for a mutually beneficial trade deal with the US after President Donald Trump announced a new 25 per cent tariff on its goods. Photo: Reuters

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says US President Donald Trump’s new tariff rate on Japanese imports is ‘truly regrettable’. Photo: Reuters

Shipbuilding at Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering in Geoje. South Korea can offer its shipbuilding expertise to the US as part of bilateral trade talks, analysts say. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images

Panda diplomacy: a boost for China-Japan ties amid US tariff anxiety?

Giant panda Rauhin eats at Adventure World amusement park in Japan’s Wakayama prefecture on June 27. The four pandas that were on loan to the park have now returned to China. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng is scheduled to attend the World Expo in Osaka on Friday. Photo: Reuters

People bid farewell to giant pandas at Adventure World amusement park in Japan’s Wakayama prefecture on June 28. Photo: Xinhua

In global survey, people say China exerts economic influence on their country

A billboard in Islamabad welcomes Chinese officials to 10th anniversary celebrations of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in 2023. The CPEC is a vast infrastructure development project that is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Photo: EPA-EFE

People in Jakarta pose for a photo with high-speed electrical trains that are part of a Belt and Road Initiative project between China and Indonesia. Photo: Xinhua

US viewed more favourably than China in 22 of 24 countries, opening largest margin since 2005: survey

The 2023 survey by Pew Research Centre obtained views on the US and China from more than 30,000 respondents across 24 countries.

News

World

Diplomacy

Europe

Africa

Russia & Central Asia

China

Asia

Pew Research worldwide poll of nearly 32,000 respondents finds 15 of 24 nations citing US as top ally while China is named by four


Pew Research worldwide poll of nearly 32,000 respondents finds 15 of 24 nations citing US as top ally while China is named by four.


In global survey, US cited more often than China as greatest ally and threat

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Pew Research worldwide poll of nearly 32,000 respondents finds 15 of 24 nations citing US as top ally while China is named by four

Pew Research worldwide poll of nearly 32,000 respondents finds 15 of 24 nations citing US as top ally while China is named by four