Beijing: China is viewed as most influential country in Asia and has more say in Pakistan than the US while Beijing has negative ratings in Japan, Vietnam and South Korea, results of global online survey carried by Chinese media said.
More than 70 per cent of those who responded to an online inquiry on China’s international image and influence in 2016 believe China has accomplished “the economic capability as a great power” and more than 44 per cent think China would become the most influential country in Asia, surpassing the US, the results of state-run Global Times-affiliated huaqiu.com survey said.
Among those who have a favourable opinion of China, Pakistanis landed first, the report carried by the Global Times web edition said today.
However 56.7 per cent of the Japanese and 52.2 per cent from Vietnam said they don’t like China. 35.8 per cent from South Korea expressed their dislike for China, a sharp increase from 25.5 per cent in 2015.
To the question, “In your opinion, which area has China achieved the status as a great power?” 70.3 per cent of the respondents chose “economic capability,” more than 32 per cent for “military capability,” 32.6 per cent for “political and diplomatic influence” and 21.7 per cent for “cultural influence.”
31.8 per cent of the overseas respondents have a favourable opinion of China, a drop of 5.5 percentage points from 2015, while 19.5 per cent hold negative feelings toward China, an increase of 4.1 percentage points from 2015.
More than 56.6 per cent of respondents ranked the US as the most influential country, followed by China (22. 7 per cent) and Russia (10.1 per cent).
However, 44.6 per cent believe China will become the most influential country in dealing with affairs in Asia within 10 years, further surpassing the US.
Results of the survey called “A global inquiry on China’s international image and influence in 2016,” received 16,712 responses from respondents above 18-year-old in 16 countries, including Russia, the US, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Brazil, Germany Kenya and Australia.
The survey has no mention about India.