Survey shows majority believes strong relationship is an 'important priority'

The United States and China are more likely to see each other as competitors than as partners or adversaries, a survey released on Thursday shows.

The US-China Security Perceptions Survey, released by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the China Strategic Culture Promotion Association, showed that 45 percent of the Chinese public and a clear majority of the Chinese elite view the US as a competitor. The survey defined the elite as consisting of government officials, scholars, business leaders, military experts and the media.

Only 15 percent of the US public and 12 percent of the Chinese public viewed the other country as an adversary.

The figures were smaller with US elite categories, with 2 percent of government officials and 1 percent of business leaders viewing China as an adversary.

The majority of respondents from the US and China in all categories viewed the other country as a competitor, while a minority said the other nation was a partner.

One of the most disturbing findings in the report was “a high level of distrust both among elite and the public in both countries toward the other”, said Michael Swaine, lead author of the report and an analyst on Chinese security issues at the Carnegie Endowment.