Most Chinese doubt superpower status for China
December 31st, 2010 | Global Times
Despite an increase in national pride, the Chinese public seems more cautious in evaluating the countrys relative international strength, with fewer people in this years Global Times survey categorizing China as a world superpower, compared with the previous four annual polls.
Despite wide acknowledgement of Chinas economic might and its political and diplomatic leverage the two major parameters in defining a superpower only 12 percent of respondents deemed China to be a superpower, down by 14.4 percent from 2008.
In all, 57 percent of respondents voted China as the most promising emerging nation among BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), a 10 percent drop from last years result.
The result shows that Chinese people are becoming more objective when considering these issues, said Wu Xinbo, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University.
The diplomatic rows China encountered this year fueled public awareness about the difficult factors China will face as it continue to grow, he added.
Conducted by the Global Poll Center run by the Global Times, the poll is based on telephone interviews of a random sampling of 1,488 people in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Chongqing to analyze how Chinese see the world.
The patriotism of Chinese people is seen in the findings, with China topping the US as the most favored country to travel in.
Additionally, 19 percent of participants selected the US as the foreign country they would most like to visit, followed by France, with 21 percent saying they had no desire to visit foreign countries.
More than half of participants in the survey said Chinas international status was boosted in the past year by the Shanghai World Expo, while more than 60 percent denounced corrupt officials for tarnishing Chinas global image.
The poll also reflects the belief that the quality of made-in-China products is gradually getting better, with 80 percent of those polled expressing their hope that improvements were being made.
This positive attitude also extends outside the Chinese border, with 84 percent of respondents optimistic on the future global setting for Chinas rise, seeing either improving or stabilizing ties with other major global players.
More than a third of respondents saw the relationship between China and Europe improve during the past year, with fewer negative factors such as trade friction, human rights and religious issues compared with previous years.
Ties with South Korea, drawing more attention in this latest survey, were seen stabilized without dramatic changes, with 46 percent of respondents saying the tensions on the Korean Peninsula will be eased in the coming year due to Chinas diplomatic role.
Su Hao, director of the Strategy and Conflict Management Research Center at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times that the result showed that Chinese people have high expectations for China to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Looking at relations with Japan, more than half of participants said the ties were unlikely to deteriorate next year.
However, the poll also shone a light on concerns, with more than 80 percent of the participants expressing their worries about Western intentions to contain Chinas development, with around 40 percent calling for countermeasures to be taken against threats to China.
Among the issues of greatest concern, US intentions to strategically contain China placed ahead of trade disputes as the most important bilateral issue this year. Ties with Washington were chosen as the most significant bilateral relationship for China for the fifth consecutive year.
Jin Canrong, vice director of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that the survey findings reflect the dynamics of this year with the US strengthening its presence in Asia.
Some Chinese people remain suspicious of the outside world, especially the Western countries. They still dont trust these countries, he said.
Song Shengxia contributed to this story
Superpower tag in doubt | CHINA-WIRE
