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US soft power still strong in Asia

Conventional wisdom holds that the image of the US in Asia today is mostly negative. This is not the case, however, in China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, a survey published this week found. At the same time, perhaps surprisingly, the survey found that China had a negative reputation among its fellow Asian countries.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs reported that “the United States is still highly regarded in all five of the key areas of soft power addressed in this survey: economics, culture, human capital, diplomacy, and politics.”

The council said: “Whether this influence is a product of US foreign policy or exists in spite of it, it is clear that the United States has a very strong foundation on which to build future policy in the region.”

On China, the survey found a majority of Asians believed the rise of that country to be inevitable but not to their benefit. A majority of respondents in Japan and South Korea were uncomfortable with China becoming the leader of Asia. In Indonesia and Vietnam, a minority said they feared China.

The survey, in contrast with other polls, found that China “lags behind the United States in perceptions of its diplomatic, political, and human capital soft power, though perceptions of China’s soft power are decidedly stronger in Southeast Asia.”

Asian skepticism was evident “when respondents were asked whether their countries share similar values with China.”

China’s diplomatic influence was not perceived as strong, as found in some studies.

When asked whether they believed China’s political system served its people, respondents in other Asian countries were dubious.

The Chicago Council’s survey may be deserving of criticism on two counts. It was largely funded by the East Asia Institute of South Korea; South Korean studies often incorporate nationalistic interpretations of data. Moreover, some questions about China were not asked in Vietnam, which is sensitive to its tenuous relations with China.

The survey was perhaps strongest on the complicated relations between Americans and Chinese, which “may be the most important bilateral relationship of the twenty-first century. It is certainly critically important to the future of Asia on both geostrategic and economic levels,” it said.

Positively, the report said: “More than 67,000 Chinese students studied in American universities in the 2006-07 academic year, while more than 11,000 Americans were resident on Chinese campuses.”

Negatively, it said relations were “troubled by trade and human rights issues, resource competition, and China’s growing military power.”

The survey found “a worrisome disconnect between American perceptions of China, which have deteriorated, and mostly positive Chinese perceptions of the United States.”

The surveyed showed that “Americans have very cool feelings toward China in both absolute and relative terms. On a 0 to 100 scale where 50 is neutral, Americans give China a very low average rating of 35, down from 40 in 2006 and 44 in 2004.”

“Americans clearly see China as a strategic competitor,” the report said.

Americans rate the competitiveness of China’s economy highly but think China produces inferior products in comparison to Japan and South Korea. Seventy percent of US respondents said they worried that “China could become a military threat to the United States.”

US respondents gave China low ratings on human rights and the rule of law and its use of diplomacy to resolve problems. Americans do not think they share a way of life with the Chinese or hold values in common.

In marked disparity, Chinese views of the US were more positive, the survey found. Chinese respondents believed that trade and investment with the US were important to their country’s economy and a majority said they thought the US exerted a positive influence in Asia.

Surprisingly, 63 percent of Chinese respondents said the US has effectively managed tensions between China and Taiwan.

Forty-four percent of Chinese respondents said they would pick the US as their first overseas choice for higher education and 82 percent said their children should learn English. Chinese respondents said they admired US science and technology, popular culture, entrepreneurial spirit and the political system.

On security, however, 76 percent Chinese respondents worried that the US could become a military threat.

Anecdotal evidence bears that out. Many Chinese have asked this correspondent: “Will there be a war between my country and yours?”



Richard Halloran is a writer based in Hawaii.
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