Frontier India Current Affairs

Written on June 17, 2008 – 9:14 pm | by FICA |

Just months before China is set to take the world’s center stage during the 2008 Summer Olympics to showcase its many economic advances, it still ranks below the United States as a multifaceted power in the opinion of its Asian neighbors, according to a new report released today by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the East Asia Institute (EAI).

The report, which is based on public opinion surveys in five East and Southeast Asian countries and the United States, reveals that perceptions of China’s “soft power” - the ability to wield influence by indirect, non-military means - generally trail those of the United States and Japan. These perceptions persist despite China’s strong economic relationships in Asia and around the world, and concerted efforts by Beijing to leverage the Olympic Games to bolster its public image. But, at the same time, sizeable majorities in all the countries surveyed agreed that hosting the games will ultimately increase China’s prestige.

The report also reveals that contrary to other polls taken since the United States invaded Iraq which reflected negative views of the United States, a majority of Asians in the surveyed countries still admire the United States on many fronts, including economic, diplomatic, cultural and educational, and see its military presence in Asia as a stabilizing force, notably preventing an arms race between China and Japan.