45 per cent Chinese think Beijing will surpass US in influence in Asia

About 45 per cent Chinese think their country will become the most influential in Asia, surpassing the US, an online survey conducted by Chinese media has said.

The survey, done by Global Times-affiliated poll.huaqiu.com, also revealed that over 70 per cent believe China has accomplished "the economic capability as a great power".

"A 44.6 percent believe China will become the most influential country in dealing with affairs in Asia within 10 years, further surpassing the US." the newspaper controlled by the Communist Party of China said.

The opinion poll received 16,712 responses from respondents above 18 years of age in 16 countries, including Russia, the US, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Brazil, Germany, Kenya and Australia.

Nearly 70 percent of the respondents think China has become a great power, which shows that China's development is widely recognised by overseas residents, the report said.

As many as 70.3 per cent felt that China achieved the status as a great power in terms of "economic capability" while more than 32 per cent were for "military capability".

While 31.8 per cent of the overseas respondents have a favourable opinion of China -- a drop of 5.5 per cent from 2015, 19.5 percent hold negative feelings toward China -- an increase of 4.1 per cent from 2015.

People in all-weather ally Pakistan favoured China the most.

However, 56.7 per cent of the Japanese said they don't like China and 52.2 per cent from Vietnam thought alike.

Japan is China's traditional enemy. Vietnam and China have fought a war.

In South Korea, 35.8 percent expressed their dislike for China -- a sharp increase from 25.5 percent in 2015.

More than 56.6 percent of respondents ranked the US as the most influential country, followed by China (22.7 percent) and Russia (10.1 percent).

However, 44.6 percent believe China will become the most influential country in dealing with affairs in Asia within 10 years -- further surpassing the US.

--IANS

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