WELLINGTON: For the first time in a decade, New Zealanders see the United States as more of a threat than China, a survey by the Asia New Zealand Foundation found, as concerns over trade disruption and global instability weigh on public sentiment.
The foundation’s annual Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples survey, now in its 29th year, polled 2,300 people in January and February.
Thirty-nine per cent of respondents saw the US as a friend of New Zealand, while 35 per cent viewed it as a threat. By comparison, 43 per cent saw China as a friend and 23 per cent saw it as a threat.
The number of people who perceived the US as a friend fell significantly over the last year, while the view of China improved.
The survey also found that 81 per cent of New Zealanders see developing ties with Asia as important.
“There is a growing recognition that prosperity, resilience and security will depend on the depth and quality of our relationships across Asia,” Asia New Zealand Foundation chief executive Suzannah Jessep said in the report.
New Zealand and the US have deepened defence, security and technology cooperation in recent years, with Wellington seeing Washington as central to Indo-Pacific stability and as a counterweight to China’s growing influence.
At the same time, New Zealand’s exporters have been hit by US tariffs, while the economy has faced pressure from higher oil prices linked to the US-Israel war on Iran.
“New Zealanders also still understand their sense of security largely through an economic lens, and so tariffs and disruption to global trade weigh heavily on those calculations,” said David Capie, professor of international relations at Victoria University of Wellington.
Souring US sentiment followed a broader pattern across Western liberal democracies, Capie said.
A University of Sydney poll released in December found the majority of Australians, Japanese and Indians believe US President Donald Trump’s second term has been bad for their countries. - Reuters
