By the Numbers: How Asians and Americans View Each Other

The data driving Asia

The Pew Research Center’s director of global economic attitudes Bruce Stokes gave a presentation at CSIS on September 9 highlighting key findings from Asian nations in the latest Global Attitudes Survey. His full presentation, titled “How Asians and American View Each Other: The Policy Implications,” is available here: BruceStokesPresentation. In the meantime, we explore perceptions of trust, threat, and more from around the region, by the numbers.

25%

The difference between the 89 percent of young (18-29 years old) Vietnamese who says they hold favorable views of the United States and the 64 percent of old (over 50 years old) Vietnamese who say the same. China, India, Japan, and Thailand also boast double digit generational divides when it comes to impressions of the United States, with younger groups being more positive. Only in Bangladesh and Indonesia were older citizens more favorably inclined than younger ones toward the United States.

A fisherman balances his catch in rural Bangladesh. Source: WorldFish's flickr photostream, used under a creative commons license.

A fisherman balances his catch in rural Bangladesh. Source: WorldFish’s flickr photostream, used under a creative commons license.

8

The number of countries, out of 11, in which a plurality (or majority) pick the United States as their greatest ally. These included Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Pluralities in four countries identify the United States as their greatest threat: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Clearly, Indonesia is of two minds on the question.

3

The percentage of Pakistani respondents who believe it is more important to have strong ties with the United States than with China. Unsurprisingly Pakistanis consistently hold the least favorable views of the United States across categories. The feeling seems to be mutual, with 83 percent of Americans saying the United States should trust Pakistan “not too much” or “not at all.”

64

The percentage of Filipinos who find it acceptable for the United States to monitor the communications of their leaders. Meanwhile 87 percent of Filipinos say the U.S. government respects the personal freedoms of its people.

38

The percentage of Americans in 1993 who said the North American Free Trade Agreement would be mostly bad for the United States. By contrast, only 20 percent now say the same about the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and 25 percent about the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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