GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to the United States this week has highlighted the long-standing conflict between those who stress the importance of China as a trading partner and economic ally and those who emphasize the country's historically negative role on human rights, nuclear weapons and relations with Tibet. A new Gallup poll shows that the American public comes down clearly on the side of using the U.S.'s power to influence internal Chinese policies, even at the risk of losing economic advantage. Additionally, Americans are wary of China, don't consider it to be a friend or ally, and don't buy into the idea that China has made significant progress in terms of providing more freedoms for its citizens, or in terms of moving to a more Western-style, free-market economy.
Linkage?
A key concern raised frequently this week in the context of Zemin's
trip to the U.S. has been the "linkage" between American actions
towards China and China's internal policies, notably the human
rights of its citizens. When asked directly, the American public
favors such an explicit connection - although the sentiments are
not universally held. A little more than half of those polled - 55%
-- say that there should be a link between U.S.- China trade policy
and human rights in China, but more than a third -- 36% -- say that
there should not.
Americans were also asked to react to the tradeoff between maintaining good relations between the two countries and taking strong stances on five specific Chinese policies. The results show that the American public fairly strongly favors the U.S. taking principled stances on most of the issues. Two notable points: human rights is seen as less important than China's nuclear policy and a possible forceful take over of Taiwan, and the fate of Tibet appears to be the least important issue to Americans. Specifically:
- 72% of those polled say that the U.S. taking a strong stand on China's sale of nuclear weapons internationally is more important than maintaining good relations with China
- 65% say that taking a stance against China's forceful take over of Taiwan is more important than maintaining good relations
- 59% say that taking a stance on human rights is more important
- 51% say that taking a stance of treatment of Christians within China is more important
- 37% say that taking a stand on the status of Tibet is more important (although almost one out of five don't have an opinion on this issue either way, despite the visibility it has received as the result of recent movies and the involvement of actor Richard Gere in promoting its importance).
- More broadly, only 20% of Americans say they fundamentally disapprove of the decision on the part of President Clinton to meet with the Chinese president this week -- contrary to the message being stressed by those who are protesting the whole idea of the state visit. Sixty percent approve and the rest say they have no opinion.
Americans' Attitude Toward China Distinctly
Ambivalent
Americans may be willing to link trade relations to changes in
internal Chinese policies partly because of the distinctly
suspicious views they hold of the world's most populous
country.
The U.S. public is in fact more wary of China now than they were in the early 1980's, no doubt part of a lingering reaction to the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989.
In 1983, a poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times indicated that 47% of Americans considered China to be friendly, although not an ally, while 18% considered China to be unfriendly, but not an enemy. This year, when asked the same question, only 21% of Americans said that China was friendly but not an ally, while 27% said that China was unfriendly but not an enemy. (The percent who had no opinion of the relationship between China and the U.S. increased to almost four out of ten.)
The American public is also distinctly pessimistic that major reforms have been taking place in China:
- Only 26% agree that China's government is becoming more democratic and allowing more freedoms for its citizens
- Just 34% say that China's economy is becoming more like the kind of free market system found in the U.S. and other Western nations.
There is no clear-cut majority opinion when Americans are asked whether China's wealth and economic power makes it more of a threat to the U.S. or more of an opportunity for the U.S. About 45% choose each of these alternatives.
Chinese Involvement in the 1996 Presidential
Election?
A majority of Americans, 54%, say that the Chinese government
attempted to influence the outcome of the U.S. elections last year
by donating money to the Democratic party. Twenty eight percent say
that China did not, while 18% say they are unsure.
METHODOLOGY
The current results are based on telephone interviews with a
randomly selected national sample of 631 adults, conducted October
27, 1997. For results based on a sample of this size, one can say
with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling
and other random effects could be plus or minus 4 percentage
points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and
practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or
bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
Which of the following best describes your view of the relationship between China and the United States? Would you say China is an ally, friendly, but not an ally, unfriendly, but not an enemy, an enemy of the United States, or haven't you heard enough about that yet to say?
| Relationship with China - Trend | |||
| May 1983** | October 1997 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| An ally | 5% | 4% | |
| Friendly | 47 | 21 | |
| Unfriendly | 18 | 27 | |
| An enemy | 3 | 9 | |
| No opinion | 27 | 39 | |
| ___ 100% |
___ 100% |
||
| ** Los Angeles Times survey | |||
From what you know or have read, do you think that China's government is becoming more democratic and is allowing more freedoms for Chinese citizens, or do you think this is not happening?
| Yes, becoming more democratic | 26% |
| No, not happening | 64 |
| No opinion | 10 |
| ___ 100% |
Do you think that China's economy is becoming more like the kind of free-market system found in the United States and other Western countries, or do you think this is not happening?
| Yes, becoming more free-market | 34% |
| No, not happening | 55 |
| No opinion | 11 |
| ___ 100% |
Which of the following statements comes closer to your view: the United States should link human rights issues in China with U.S.- China trade policy, even if doing so hurts U.S economic interests, or, the United States should not link human rights issues in China with U.S.- China trade policy because doing so might hurt U.S. economic interests.
| Should | 55% |
| Should not | 36 |
| No opinion | 9 |
| ___ 100% |