More than eight in ten Americans are worried about the military challenge posed by China, according to the results of a poll on American foreign policy attitudes by the Ronald Reagan Institute.
The survey found that 36 percent of respondents were “somewhat” concerned and 46 percent “extremely” concerned about China’s military buildup, figures unchanged since the institute’s last poll in November 2023.
Despite these concerns, only 27 percent believe that Washington has a coherent strategy in place for managing the issue.
China’s military expenditures are second globally only to the U.S. and account for nearly half of defense spending in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). China has rapidly expanded both conventional and nuclear forces in recent years and now leads the U.S. in the number of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and naval ships.
The buildup, along with China’s assertive moves in the East and South China seas and Taiwan Strait, has prompted U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines to boost their defense budgets as well as military ties with Washington and each other.
Three-quarters of survey respondents expressed concern about the prospect of China replacing the U.S. as the top superpower.
Concerns about “the isolation of Taiwan” comprised 58 percent of respondents, with Beijing claiming Taiwan as its territory and vowing unification by force if necessary.
A total of 58 percent supported increasing the U.S.’s military presence near Taiwan, and 56 percent supported boosting arms sales to the self-ruled island.
Those surveyed also revealed their concerns about perceived malign activities by China in other areas.
- Technology theft (83 percent)
- Advances in artificial intelligence (82 percent)
- Unfair trade practices (80 percent)
- Human rights violations in China (83 percent)
- Crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong (68 percent)
Respondents revealed skepticism that Washington is prepared to manage the U.S.-China relationship. Only 27 percent believe the U.S. has a clear strategy, unchanged from the November poll.
China’s military budget grew by $296 billion last year, continuing an annual increase of around 6-7 percent, according to SIPRI.
However, some analysts believe Beijing is grossly underreporting these figures.
The American Enterprise Institute estimated China’s defense expenditures to be over $710 billion in 2022, more than double the official numbers and nearly equal to U.S. spending that year.
The survey, conducted May 20-27 by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company, included 1,257 eligible samples weighted to reflect U.S. demographics. Of these, 794 were collected online, and 463 through live interviews split evenly between landline and cell phone calls.
The estimated margin of error is at least plus or minus 2.8 percent. For questions asked to just half the respondents, there is a margin of error of +/- 3.9 points, according to the Reagan Institute.
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