China's "peaceful rise" not necessarily welcomed in Asia

China has stopped following Deng Xiaoping's advice that it "hide its ambitions and disguise its claws," and is now encouraging its people to talk about its "peaceful rise." Naturally, most Chinese are pretty excited about the country's incredible growth and rapid maturation as a world power. 

But if the Chinese are looking for universal acceptance around the Pacific, they're in for a rude shock. A Pew Global Attitudes survey released recently revealed that "[t]here is a good deal of dislike, if not outright hostility, in how the publics of major Asian countries view their neighbors," and China doesn't get a free pass.

The survey, which was conducted in China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Russia and the United States, shows great hostility and distrust among the publics of Asian powers. The Chinese and Japanese hold a mutually unfavourable view of each other, as do India and Pakistan (see table at right). A majority of Indians believe that China will replace the U.S. as the world's superpower, while only a minority held the same belief in China, Japan and Russia. There was however, an overwhelming consistency when asked about the rise of China's military power. A large majority in Japan, Russia and India respond to it as a "bad thing," while the Chinese almost unanimously believe it is a "good thing".

The Pew Global Attitudes Project compiles a variety of other reports on international issues, including Muslim-Western relations and the image of the U.S.