Quinnipiac University recently conducted a poll and found that Americans still consider China to be the greatest foreign threat to the United States, despite the conflict in Ukraine and Russia.
The poll found that 61% of Americans consider China to be the greatest threat to their country, nearly three times the number of those who voted for Russia. Respondents also had mixed feelings about President Joe Biden’s approach towards Ukraine. Only 45 percent favored it, and 47 percent disagreed.
The issue of Ukraine aid is not top-of-mind for Americans, even though lawmakers remain divided on the matter. Only six percent of respondents viewed it as the most pressing issue facing the U.S., with 29% citing inflation and 10% citing gun violence and immigration respectively.
Nearly half the respondents supported a ban on TikTok’s national use, and 42 percent said that they were against such a move. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company is based in Beijing and has close ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP could use the company’s data to steal users’ data, which is why many U.S. states as well as foreign countries have banned the app from official devices.
The U.S. also has diplomatic hostilities against China on several fronts. These include China’s claims over Taiwan, the maritime dispute in the South China Sea, as well as Beijing’s support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
China is also becoming a more bipartisan concern. The Senate unanimously voted to release intelligence on the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted from a laboratory leak in Wuhan.
A recent report by NBC claims that Biden hopes to ease tensions between Beijing and Washington by using the personal relationship he’s had with dictator Xi Jinping in the last decade.
According to a Biden administration official, “In the current system in China… there’s an increasing feeling that you need to be talking to the leader level to obtain decisions.” The U.S.-China dynamic has confirmed the president’s belief that bilateral personal relationships are important… but it’s our only option. “There is no other venue where we can engage in constructively deep conversations.”
Biden warned about China in his State of the Union Address last month. However, despite substantial evidence to the contrary, he also stated that America is in the “best position in decades” to compete with China and any other country in the world.
He stated, “Before my election, the story was about the People’s Republic of China’s increasing power and America’s failure in the world.” “I am committed to working with China wherever we can advance American interests, and benefit the entire world.” “It’s not a secret that China could threaten our sovereignty.” “We will protect it, as stated last week.”
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted from March 9-13 and surveyed 1,795 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/- 2.3 percent.
