Survey finds bipartisan support for Sino-US cooperation

A new national survey has revealed bipartisan public support for US-China cooperation amid growing concern that rising tensions are hurting Chinese Americans.

The survey was conducted by the Committee of 100 and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, one of the largest independent social research organizations in the United States.

"This third iteration of the State of Chinese Americans research is more expansive and broad-reaching than ever before," said Alex Chew, NORC AmeriSpeak director and head of Amplify AAPI. "Surveying the populace at large allows us to have a full picture of the perception of the general public on issues impacting the Chinese American community."

The survey found that 59 percent of US citizens want the US government to work more closely with China's government on diplomatic issues and policies that affect both countries.

This position was bipartisan too — 65 percent of Democrats and 63 percent of Republicans took this stance.

The collaborative sentiment extended to science and technology. Only 23 percent of US citizens supported banning Chinese researchers from working at US institutions. The supporters included 16 percent of Democrats and 34 percent of Republicans — revealing a partisan divide on this issue.

"This reflects pretty minimal support for a policy that would certainly strain relations, among other negative outcomes," Sam Collitt, research lead of the Committee of 100, said at a virtual survey launch on Wednesday. He coauthored the survey report with Carren Jao and Cindy Tsai.

This question was asked "in light of the many federal and state efforts to prosecute, restrict, and ban Chinese researchers from doing research with American institutions," according to Collitt.

Collitt said the findings were in line with recent surveys by Pew Research Center and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that negative attitudes toward China among the US public seemed to have peaked, but it remains to be seen if it's "a blip" or "part of a longer trend toward improved perceptions of China".

He also said the "China Initiative" program, which resulted in many Chinese American scientists being falsely accused of spying for China, was a primary example of how Chinese Americans were negatively impacted due to tensions between the two countries.

The tensions are rising as China narrows the economic gap with the US, and as a result many US citizens see China as a threat. However, US citizens may need to see China from a historical perspective, said Madeline Hsu, a history professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"A lot of times we forget that before 1800, China was extremely wealthy, perhaps the wealthiest, and considered an elite civilization, but it went into decline under duress and exploitation by Western imperial powers, and we forget this," she said.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com