Stand up to China, most Canadians say in poll
Citizens seek bold resistance to policy
Most Canadians want Canada to stand up to China when issues seen as our national values — the rule of law, human rights, and democracy — are on the line, a new opinion survey suggests.
The bullish feeling t owards China was e xpressed by 83 per cent of respondents in a public-opinion poll on Canadian views on Asia conducted by Ekos Research Associates for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a Vancouver-based not-for-profit organization.
The poll suggests Canadians are wary of China's growing economic might, suspicious of investment from China, hoping Ottawa continues to push for the release of two Canadians detained in China, and concerned over declining human rights in China.
The national opinion polling report, released Wednesday, is part of a project of opinion surveys conducted by the foundation every two years that explore a broad range of subjects on Canada's relationship with Asia.
The pandemic had a large impact on this year's polling, both in the questions asked and in the answers given.
Two-thirds of respondents expressed distrust in China's i niti al r esponse t o t he COVID-19 outbreak: 67 per cent said the government of China didn't act responsibly at the start of the crisis, and 68 per cent want an independent inquiry into the origins of the novel coronavirus.
However, the disease's continued spread offered Canadians other countries to look cynically at: while 55 per cent said their perception of China worsened because of COVID-19, 78 per cent said their perception of the United States worsened because of the pandemic.
The view of both China and the United States this year were at their lowest level in 10 years of the foundation's polling.
Concern was also expressed with China's internal affairs.
Canadians remain concerned over the continued detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, “the two Michaels” who have been detained in China for almost two years.
Canadians want Ottawa to secure their release, whether it's with the proverbial carrot or a stick, the survey suggests.
Asked how Canada should best respond to the continued incarceration, about 73 per cent felt Canada should engage with China behind closed doors. The second most popular approach, accepted by 67 per cent, was to push China more aggressively on the issue, and about the same percentage also thinking working with allies to pressure China was a good idea.
Respondents, however, admitted Canada did not have a lot of clout on the world stage.
Canadians see human rights in China as rapidly declining, according to the survey. Just 20 per cent of respondents believed that the issue of human rights in China has improved over the last 10 years.
Canadians e x pressed growing wariness of China's growing economic power, the survey suggests.
Only 35 per cent of those polled agreed that China's economic might is more of an opportunity than a threat, down substantially from the 2018 results of 60 per cent. By contrast, India's economic growth is seen as more of an opportunity than a threat.
Canadians also view investments in Canada from Asia countries with some suspicion — less than half of respondents (47 per cent) said Canada would benefit from more Asian investment.
That's down from 59 per cent in the 2018 survey.
Investment from China was viewed most dimly: only 35 per cent of respondents supported investments from
China. The feeling warms a bit for money coming to Canada from Japan, South Korea and India, especially in the high-tech and biomedical sectors.
More than half of respondents (53 per cent) said Canadians of East Asian origin were negatively treated since the COVID-19 outbreak and 78 per cent said racial crime should be a punishable offence.
The pandemic exacerbated existing racism in Canada, respondents said, with 84 per cent agreeing anti-Asian racism existed here before the pandemic.
The poll suggests Canadians see immigration from Asia as a positive thing — 78 per cent of respondents said immigration from Asian countries is good for Canada's economy, and 64 per cent said immigrants from Asia “integrate well into Canadian society.”
Respondents were asked to rate their view of various countries on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being “very warm, favourable.”
Both China a nd t he United States had lower ratings this year: China's average score was 3.6 and the United States a 4.9.
The same was not the case for several other Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan, all of which showed slightly improved ratings.
On the whole, Canadians feel less connected to the Asia Pacific region, a sharp turn from a seven-year trend of increasing feelings of connectivity, the poll said.
A feeling that Canada was a part of the Asia Pacific region was at its lowest recorded level in 10 years of the APF's polling, at just 18 per cent in 2013. Since then it has been steadily climbing. This year's polling saw 38 per cent of respondents consider Canada to be a part of the Asia Pacific region, which is down five per cent from 2018.
The opinion poll surveyed 3,519 Canadian adults from Aug. 31 to Sept. 21, 2020, by internet, phone or cellphone.