By Frank Ching
It may not come as a total surprise, but the starkness of the report is still a shock. A recent Pew Global Attitudes survey of 45,000 people has revealed that China's support for free trade was the highest while that of the United States was the lowest among 47 countries.
The survey results, made public in October, showed that 91 percent of respondents in China supported free trade compared to only 59 percent in the United States.
``The publics of the world broadly embrace key tenets of economic globalization but fear the disruptions and downsides of participating in the global economy,'' the Pew Global Attitudes survey report said. ``In rich countries as well as poor ones, most people endorse free trade, multinational corporations and free markets.''
It added: ``There are signs that enthusiasm for economic globalization is waning in the West ― Americans and Western Europeans are less supportive of international trade and multinational companies than they were five years ago. In contrast, there is near universal approval of global trade among the publics of rising Asian economic powers China and India.''
This is not surprising. China and India are making substantial advances as the result of globalization, while the rich countries of the West find that they face growing trade deficits and economic problems as jobs are outsourced to Asia.
The United States, in particular, has seen numerous factories shut down as companies decide to manufacture in Asia, primarily China. And while its exports to China are rising substantially each year, they are dwarfed by imports from that country by a ratio of six to one.
According to the survey report, in all 47 nations, ``large majorities say international trade is a good thing for their countries.'' However, ``views about trade have grown somewhat more negative'' in quite a few countries. That is certainly true of the United States.
In fact, the United States, the country with the world's largest economy, is also the country whose population is most ambivalent about global trade. ``Just 59 percent of Americans say trade with other countries is having a good effect on the U.S., down sharply from 2002, when 78 percent believed it was having a positive impact,'' the report said.
By contrast, the number of those in China who believe trade is good for their country rose from 90 percent in 2002 to 91 percent this year.
Those who say that people are better off in free markets fell in the United States from 72 percent in 2002 to 70 percent this year. At the same time, those in China who say that people are better off in free markets rose from 70 percent in 2002 to 75 percent this year.
One sign of the rise in protectionist sentiment in the United States was the recent passage of two bills by key Senate committees seeking to pressure Beijing to increase the value of its currency so as to make imports from China less attractive and to enhance American exports to China.
To its credit, the Bush administration is calling for negotiations rather than unilateral legislative acts to resolve differences.
In late November, Trade Representative Susan Schwab triumphantly announced that China had agreed to end subsidies challenged by the U.S. in the World Trade Organization.
The United States, together with Mexico, initiated a case in February, accusing China of market-distorting subsidies that benefited industrial sectors in China, including steel, wood products and information technology. China's agreement to end this practice was hailed as proof that trade disputes can be settled through dialogue.
Interestingly, where basic needs and rights are concerned, Chinese and Americans seem to value free speech equally, with 18 percent of Americans considering this right most important, while 19 percent of Chinese think so.
In China, where over 100 million people still live on less than a dollar a day, 42 percent of people considered being free from hunger and poverty as most important, while only 22 percent of Americans gave that basic right a high priority, as compared to other rights. This no doubt reflects the fact that there are many more hungry people in China.
However, when asked whether a good democracy or a strong economy was more important, 50 percent in China opted for a good democracy, with 44 percent preferring a strong economy. The remaining six percent had no view.
But by far the most striking thing about the 144-page report is its discovery that China, which is still a one-party state run by the Communist Party, is one of the staunchest supporters of free trade while an increasing number of people in the United States are leaning towards protectionism. What is the world coming to?
Frank.ching@gmail.com
1 | In-N-Out Burger pop-up store attracts record crowd |
![[INTERVIEW] Partnership with allies is key to Seoul's space plans](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/7c6f5aaf019240eeb38dcf75f9d97cb3.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Lee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/77a9da6df7da4284adbee249a87307c1.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
