Sovereignty, Security and U.S.-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion

In late summer 2024, The Carter Center’s China Focus initiative collaborated with faculty from Emory University’s Department of Political Science on a poll of Chinese public opinion on a host of international relations issues in Asia. Below, you can find the executive summary and key findings. A PDF of the complete report is available for download at the end.

Summary

This survey finds that, while Chinese public opinion tends to be unfavorable toward the United States, most Chinese people believe that peaceful and friendly relations with the United States are important for China’s economic development. Although these results suggest potentially broad acceptance for constructive paths out of current bilateral tensions, this survey also finds majority support for alliances that would make such paths mutually difficult, most importantly Russia and Vladimir Putin. Furthermore, in several cases responses to country-specific questions across Asia indicate support for military coercion as an international relations tool, leaving open the risk that the metaphor of a new Cold War could become a reality …

Read the full report below or download the PDF.