2014 Lowy Institute Poll: Who is Australia’s best friend in Asia?

The tenth annual Lowy Institute Poll, released today, has found that Australians believe China and Japan have equal claims to the title of ‘Australia’s best friend in Asia’. Sentiments towards China have also warmed significantly this year, up 6 points to its equal highest rating of 60° on the Lowy Institute’s ‘thermometer’ of feelings towards other nations.

Despite this increased warmth, nearly half (48%) of the Australian adult population believe that China is likely to become a military threat to Australia in the next 20 years (up 7 points), and a majority say the Australian Government allows too much investment from China (56%). A very high 64% of Australians either don’t know or hold no view when asked whether they admire the Chinese President Xi Jinping.

‘Australians have very mixed feelings towards China. What’s remarkable about these findings is that one in two Australians think we may be in a military conflict within two decades with our largest trading partner – a country many people today see as our best friend in Asia’, said Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.

The full report will be available on the Lowy Institute website on Wednesday 4 June at 12.01 a.m., together with the updated 2014 Lowy Institute Poll Interactive – a data visualisation tool exploring key results from 10 years of Lowy Institute polling.

The 2014 Lowy Institute Poll is based on a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,000 Australian adults between 12 and 27 February 2014. An additional 150 adults aged 18-29 years of age were also surveyed on questions about democracy, threats to Australia’s vital interests, climate change and feelings towards other countries. The Poll’s error margin on the 1000 sample is approximately +/- 3.1%.