According to a new poll released by the Ronald Reagan Institute, most Americans see China, not Russia or any other country, as the top threat currently confronting the US, with the majority of those from both parties concerned about the possibility of war between the two countries, Fox News reported.
The poll was conducted for this year’s Reagan National Defense Survey, with the results compared to how Americans felt about a variety of issues in 2018.
“For the first time in our survey, a majority of the American people have identified a single country as the greatest threat facing the United States: China. Fifty-two per cent of Americans named China when asked which country they see as the greatest threat to the United States, while only 14 per cent said Russia,” the report said, Fox News reported.
In 2018, only 21% saw China as the top threat, while 30% saw Russia as the top threat.
In 2021, China was viewed as the greatest threat by members of both parties, with 44% of Democrats seeing it as the greatest threat and 64% of Republicans seeing it as the greatest threat.
For the Democrats, this is a significant increase, as only 20% of the party’s members named China as the greatest threat in February of this year.
“Americans are also beginning to recognise the multifaceted nature of the China challenge,” the institute’s report said, pointing to a fairly even split when it comes to what people viewed as the greatest concern regarding China.
Of those participating in the poll, 20 per cent said China’s trade and economic practices, 19 per cent said its development of its military, and 17 per cent said human rights abuses.
