Elites in Pacific Rim countries back America’s presence

Influential people who are not in government in 11 Pacific Rim countries support a robust US role in the region even though they also largely China’s clout to keep growing, results of a survey showed. The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies conducted the survey online between March 24 and April 22, 2014, among 402 participants in the United States, Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Australia, Singapore, Burma/Myanmar, and Taiwan. Japan, whose relationship with China has been deteriorating, was the most enthusiastic about a dominant US position. On the other end of the spectrum, Southeast Asian nations preferred a “quiet, persistent presence” of the US. They  appreciate the US commitment to freedom of navigation amid tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea, but “they really don’t want to see confrontation and friction between the United States and China,” said said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the center. One surprise in the survey was the percentage of those who predicted that the US would be the dominant power in East Asia in 2024 was highest in China at 71% – even higher than in the US itself.

Read Rappler’s report on the study here.

A summary of the main findings of “Power and Order in Asia: A Survey of Regional Expectations” is available here.