Fewer Australians see China as a threat as negative public opinion may have ‘bottomed out’: survey

The poll reveals strong public support for the Aukus agreement but Australians are now less clear about how the deal would impact regional security

Friendlier diplomacy by PM Anthony Albanese’s government has cooled tensions, ended some informal blocks on trade and increased contacts

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The findings for the poll this year revealed a slightly softer stance towards China among Australians compared with last year’s poll amid improving bilateral relations. Photo: via Getty Images

Published: 8:30pm, 20 Jun 2023Updated: 11:05am, 21 Jun 2023

Perceptions of China have improved in Australia, while more Australians are now against the purchase of nuclear-powered submarines through the Aukus programme, the latest annual public opinion survey by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute has shown.

The findings for this year’s poll revealed a slightly softer stance towards China among Australians compared with last year’s poll amid improving bilateral relations.

While feelings towards China remained lukewarm, fewer Australians surveyed – 52 per cent of the 2,077 Australians polled in March – saw China as a threat. This was an 11-point reduction from last year’s 63 per cent.

More Australians also saw China as an economic partner this year at 44 per cent, compared with 33 per cent last year.

Chinese tourists rest near Sydney Harbour Bridge. Friendlier diplomacy by the government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has cooled tensions between Beijing and Canberra. Photo: Reuters

The relationship between the two countries nosedived in 2020 after Canberra pushed for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, raising Beijing’s ire for being blamed for the pandemic.