19 October 1999
Potomac Associates Release Survey of American Views on Asia
(Americans see peace, security in Asia as Issue Number One) (1050) By Steve La Rocque Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Americans see their paramount interest in Asia as maintaining peace and security in that part of the world, according to a survey on American attitudes released October 19. They are right to do so, says former Congressman Lee Hamilton who took part in a panel discussion on the findings of the survey "Americans Look at Asia." The survey was conducted by the Washington-based Potomac Associates and Opinion Dynamics Corporation of Cambridge, Massachusetts. But while Americans may have a cogent "big picture" of their interests in the region, their actual knowledge of specific Asian countries leaves something to be desired, according to Henry Luce III, chairman and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation, which commissioned the survey. The opinions of former Luce Scholars were used as benchmarks in the survey because of the scholars' implicit knowledge of Asia. "The importance of East Asia to the United States can hardly be overstated," Luce said to a gathering of journalists and diplomats in Washington, D.C., "yet many Americans are lacking in their general knowledge of the region." Most Americans see China as their principal concern in Asia, according to the survey of 1,200 Americans conducted June 16-28, 1999. And, while Americans see Japan as their key ally in Asia -- and as the country "most helpful" in securing their goal of peace and security for the region -- they view Japan, along with China, as a nation that engages in "unfair" trading practices with the United States and as a threat to the jobs of Americans. Although the survey said China is viewed as "primarily a threat that needs to be contained" by the general public, former Luce Scholars who had spent a year in Asia saw it as "an opportunity for U.S. business ... from which we should seek economic gain." The Republic of Korea's image with the general public has risen "markedly" from past surveys, Potomac Associates said, with a majority of Americans calling it either a "friend" or "ally." "Americans as a whole and (especially) Luce Scholars," the survey noted, "put maintaining peace and regional stability at the head of a list of suggested U.S. policy priorities in Asia. "Seeking economic benefits in trade relations is next most important for Luce participants," the survey said, while the general public sees seeking economic benefits as "about on a par with environmental and human rights issues". The general public does understand some facts about Asia, the survey found, but it also uncovered several misperceptions. Only 50 percent of surveyed Americans said correctly that Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, 26 percent thought it was a member and 24 percent didn't know. Similarly, 30 percent of Americans surveyed thought the Philippines had never been a territory of the United States; 39 percent of survey participants said Seoul is the capital of North Korea; and 30 percent of those surveyed believed that Hong Kong had recently become an independent country. The survey also showed marked differences in the ways in which Americans get their information about Asia. Ordinary Americans were more likely to get their news about Asia from television, while Luce Scholars said they got a great deal of their information about Asia through reading newspapers. Within the general public surveyed, 18 percent said they received a great deal of their knowledge about Asia from watching television specials and comedies such as M*A*S*H, a story about a U.S. field hospital unit in the Korean War. Interestingly, 17 percent of Luce Scholars said they got a great deal of knowledge about Asia by eating Asian food. Only 11 percent of average Americans made that claim. Americans view Canada, 82 percent, Mexico, 72 percent, and Japan, 65 percent, as being in the close ally and friend category. China came in at 32 percent, Vietnam at 25 percent, and North Korea was viewed as a "close ally or friend" by 18 percent of the public. Only Iran, at 13 percent, scored lower than those three communist countries, the survey noted. Hamilton, now director of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, said he took "some considerable encouragement" from the survey because it showed that Americans "do not have an isolationist attitude toward Asia." They are, he suggested, "willing to support active involvement in Asia." Maintaining peace and security in Asia, the one-time chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said, is the number one issue. "Others do not rise to that paramount importance." Americans, Hamilton said, "have a pretty solid sense of where their interests in Asia lie." It was important, he emphasized, that Americans think the United States should defend Japan and South Korea. On the other hand, Hamilton noted, Americans seem to have a conflicted view of China and Taiwan. "Americans haven't figured China out yet," he said. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Susan Shirk echoed Hamilton's view that Americans were still trying to make up their mind about China. "Americans are nervous about China," Shirk said, "that is appropriate." People in America, she stressed, have not concluded that China is inevitably going to be an enemy of the United States. Opinion on China is "fluid and open," the State Department official said. The question Americans are asking, Shirk said, is whether China will be a "constructive player or a spoiler." The Clinton Administration, she said, is trying to build support for its approach to China by showing "that the policy of engagement works." U.S. policy toward China, Shirk said, "is principled, but flexible," recognizing both the risks and opportunities presented by China. China's own decisions, Shirk stressed, would probably have the greatest impact on the support among the American public for the U.S. policy of engagement. She reiterated the long-held U.S. policy that the United States would view with "grave concern" any attempt by China to bring about unification with Taiwan by force. The survey is available on the worldwide web at www.hluce.org and at www.asiasociety.org. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State)
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