Ukraine war: China, India city dwellers ambivalent about Moscow’s aggression and don’t support Putin, says regional pollster

Survey finds 71 per cent of Chinese sympathise with Ukraine, but only 10 per cent blame Russia

Poll, which also took in Singapore and Australia, found that across the board few held positive images of Moscow and Vladimir Putin

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The Ukrainian national flag waves in the wind in downtown Kyiv. Photo: EPA

Published: 4:25pm, 17 Mar 2022Updated: 5:26pm, 17 Mar 2022

A new survey of Asian sentiment surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine suggests urban dwellers in China and India are ambivalent about Moscow’s aggression even amid their governments’ efforts to stay above the fray.

The poll of 6,920 people in India, China, Singapore and Australia by the independent pollster Blackbox Research offers one of the first empirical glimpses of regional public opinion about the war as it nears the one-month mark.

Across the board, the proportion of people with positive views about Russia and President Vladimir Putin was low.

David Black, the chief executive of Blackbox Research, told This Week in Asia the findings from India and China were particularly interesting.

“The fact that there is a lot of sympathy for Ukraine demonstrates the power of social media over mainstream media,” Black said. “However, on the issue of not going along with Western sanctions, Indians have very mixed views whereas Chinese citizens either prefer to abstain from answering or possibly have insufficient information to base an answer on,” he said. “Overall, Beijing’s hedging on Russia at present is reflected somewhat in the results.”

Asked about their impression of Russia, four per cent of Indian respondents said they had a positive image of Moscow. Eight per cent in China held a similar view, 11 per cent in Australia and five per cent in Singapore.

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