China's Neighbors are Worried About China's Ascent

FOR all the alarmist commentary in the international press, it still seems incredible that China’s tiffs with its neighbours about mainly tiny, uninhabited rocks in the South and East China Seas might lead to conflict. But a survey published this week by the Pew Research Centre, an American polling organisation, suggests that many of the people most directly affected, those living in Asia, fear just that.

The global survey covered 44 countries, 11 of them in Asia. Predictably, those countries with the most active territorial disputes with China were the most alarmed. In the Philippines, for example, which is engaged in a number of tussles with China in the South China Sea, 93% of respondents were “concerned” about the possibility of conflict.

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