China's Economic Growth Helps US View Of Ties - Poll
The growth of China's increasingly open economy has helped transform U.S. attitudes toward the country in a strikingly positive way, according to a new survey from the U.S. A solid majority of respondents - 59% - said they have a favorable impression of China, compared with less than half in a similar survey done in 1994. Perhaps more surprisingly, 48% viewed China as an important ally of the U.S., a sizable proportion that lagged only the U.K., Japan, and Israel. The U.S. and China aren't formal allies. 'This was unfathomable 15 or 30 years ago,' said pollster John Zogby, whose firm Zogby International conducted the survey. The U.S.-China relationship is 'undergoing a transition,' he said. 'The economics of change have had the greatest impact on perceptions among opinion leaders and the general public.' That is despite the frequent criticism of China from both sides of the U.S. political spectrum. Union leaders and some businesses have complained that low-priced imports from China are swamping the domestic market and taking U.S. jobs. Yet the survey found that the economic relationship between China and the U.S. was seen as largely positive. Though a large majority of respondents said China did cause job losses in the U.S., a somewhat smaller majority of 63% also said that the country's low-cost products are good for U.S. consumers. And a striking 73% of people agreed that trade with China benefits the U.S. economy. 'There are lurking shadows here. This survey isn't 100% positive,' Zogby said. He said the polls show that the U.S. public is still concerned about China's poor human rights record, and noted that 57% of respondents said China's economic growth is hurting the environment globally. Though few see China as an imminent danger to the U.S., 51% of the poll's respondents said it did pose a potential military threat. 'Because of China's size, it would have to be regarded as a potential threat down the road,' Zogby said, noting that other polls show Russia is also seen as a potential but not actual threat. Past worries about China's rivalry with the U.S. have also been eclipsed by the U.S. administration's heavy focus on terrorism and the Middle East, Zogby said. Other polls show Americans now rate North Korea as the top military threat to the U.S. - which helps China's standing because of its participation in talks aimed at convincing the regime to abandon nuclear weapons. The Zogby poll surveyed 1,202 randomly selected U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 2.9%. To supplement that survey, pollsters also conducted interviews with 203 'opinion leaders' from business, academia and the media. The survey was commissioned by the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American organization, and the results were released Thursday at a conference by the committee held in Hong Kong.
中国经济增长改善美国人对两国关系的看法-调查
一项最新的美国调查显示，随着中国经济开放步伐日益加快，美国对于中国经济的看法也出现明显改观。 59%的受访者表示对中国印象良好，而1994年进行的一项类似调查中，作出此表示的受访者比例不到一半。 可能更令人吃惊的是，高达48%的受访者认为中国是美国一个重要的同盟国，仅排在英国、日本和以色列之后。美国和中国并非正式的同盟夥伴。 这项调查是Zogby International进行的，该公司的工作人员John Zogby说，这在15或30年前是无法理解的。 他说，中美关系正发生转变，两国经济的变化对人们的观念也产生着巨大影响。 尽管美国两党对中国都时有指责，工会领导人和一些企业一直在抱怨来自中国的低价进口商品占据了美国市场，攫取了美国的就业机会；但此次调查发现，人们对于中美之间经济关系的看法基本上是积极的。 尽管大部分受访者认为中国确实造成了美国就业机会减少，但也有63%的受访者表示，中国的低价商品对美国消费者有益。73%的受访者认同与中国进行贸易利于美国经济这个观点。 Zogby的这项调查随即选取了1,202名美国成人，误差为2.9%。作为补充，调查人员还采访了203位来自企业、学术界和媒体的意见具有代表性的人员。
