June 17, 2008 - Report Reveals China Lags Behind U.S. in Using Non-Military “Soft Power” to Gain Influence in Asia

Today, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the East Asia Institute (EAI) released a major new report, Soft Power in Asia 2008. The report provides an eye-opening look at how China, just months before it is set to take the world’s center stage during the 2008 Summer Olympics, still ranks below the United States as a multifaceted power in the opinion of its Asian neighbors.

The report, which is based on public opinion survey in five East and Southeast Asian countries and the United States, reveals that perceptions of China’s soft power – the ability to wield influence by indirect, non-military means – generally trail those of the United States and Japan. These perceptions persist despite China’s strong economic relationships in Asia, and around the world, and its consistent and concerted efforts to leverage the Olympic Games to bolster its public image.

The Chicago Council and EAI conducted more than 6,000 interviews in China, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States in January and February 2008 before the unrest in Tibet and the Sichuan earthquake. The survey asked between forty and sixty questions in order to gauge how citizens of these five Asian nations and the United States view each country’s popular culture, commercial prowess and brands, intellectual influence and appeal, universities, diplomatic reputations, different political systems, and more.

The concept of Soft Power is defined as the ability to wield influence by indirect, nonmilitary means, whether by persuasion or attraction.

To measure the Soft Power of the four major powers in Asia, the survey examines themes such as the attractiveness of different national cultures and values, the effectiveness of nations as regional leaders and problem-solvers, their attractiveness as trade partners, levels of human capital, the emergence of regional identities, and other relevant topics.

It also examines perceptions of growing economic and political integration in East Asia and the impact this has on underlying regional tensions. This is the first survey of its kind conducted in Asia.

Download Asia Soft Power Survey 2008

PDF format, 596KB, 18Pages.

Soft Power in Asia:
Results of a 2008 Multinational Survey of Public Opinion

Christopher B. Whitney, Project Director
David Shambaugh, Senior Project Consultant

Visit Asia Soft Power Survey 2008 Web Page

China Still Lags the United States in Soft Power in Asia

As China prepares to host the 2008 Olympics and display the results of its great economic progress to the world, a new study by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the East Asia Institute of South Korea (EAI) finds that in the estimation of most Americans and many Asians, China still has a way to go to claim the world’s full recognition as a multifaceted power. In terms of soft power in Asia—the ability to wield influence by indirect, nonmilitary means, whether by persuasion or attraction— China ranks well below the United States in the estimation of most of the Asians surveyed.

In addition, the survey results show a worrysome disconnect between American and Chinese opinions of each other’s countries. American feelings toward China have deteriorated over a fouryear period, as measured through the Chicago Council’s 2004 and 2006 Global Views surveys. Chinese feelings toward the United States have remained largely positive compared to the results of the 2006 study.

This survey finds that Asian integration is under way, particularly in the economic realm, but not enough to erase concerns over future conflicts. Strong majorities in South Korea (74%), Japan (74%), and the United States (70%) as well as a plurality in Indonesia (47%) are worried that China could become a military threat in the future. Majorities of respondents also see the U.S. military presence in Asia as a stabilizing force, helping to prevent an arms race between China and Japan.

While other polls have detected declining U.S. global influence, the Chicago Council/EAI survey finds that in Asia, the United States is still highly regarded in all five of the key areas of soft power addressed in this survey: economics, culture, human capital, diplomacy, and politics. Whether this influence is a product of U.S. foreign policy or exists in spite of it, it is clear that the United States has a very strong foundation on which to build future policy in the region.

This first-of-its-kind public opinion survey was carried out in China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the United States in January and February 2008, before the unrest in Tibet and the Sichuan earthquake placed a spotlight on events inside China. It was designed to evaluate how citizens of the five East Asian nations and the United States view each other’s popular culture, commercial prowess and brands, intellectual influence and appeal, universities, diplomatic reputations, different political systems, and more.

With approximately 40 to 60 questions asked in each country, the survey has yielded a robust set of results on soft power in Asia. To assist in the analysis of the findings, the results of many questions were combined to produce indices for each of the five pillars of soft power mentioned above: economics, culture, human capital, diplomacy and politics (see Appendix A). These five indexes were then also averaged to produce an overall “Soft Power Index” (see Figure 1). Changes in opinion were tracked on a few key questions that were asked both in this survey and in the 2006 Global Views survey.

The Soft Power Index shows the United States ranking first in terms of soft power in Asia according to Japanese, South Koreans, and Chinese themselves, and second according to Vietnamese and Indonesians. China ranks third across the board.

Among the other findings:

• A majority of Chinese and Japanese rate the other country’s influence on Asia as positive. Though that is one of a few positive bilateral findings, it suggests that the crucial China-Japan relationship is healthier than might be expected from dismal polls in recent years.
• South Korea is starting to make a mark in regional diplomacy, particularly in the eyes of the Chinese. While it cannot yet be qualified as a diplomatic leader, its status is significant since its economy, though a distant third behind Japan and China in terms of size, is fast growing.
• The United States ranks first in terms of the appeal of its popular culture in every country but Vietnam. Only in Muslim Indonesia does a plurality of respondents view the spread of U.S. popular culture as more negative than positive.

For complete survey questions and results, visit www.thechicagocouncil.org.

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