Among Asians, Filipinos trust US the most - survey

MANILA, Philippines — The United States has an ally in the Philippines, where an overwhelming majority sees it favorably at 92 percent—the highest among surveyed Asian countries.

Bruce Stokes, stated in a presentation delivered last weekend and posted online, cited a survey by US-based think tank Pew Research Center and noted that only 6 percent of Filipinos were found to have an "unfavorable" view of the US within the survey period.

The survey was conducted from March 17 to June 5 across 44 countries totaling 48,643 respondents through "nationally represented" telephone and face-to-face interviews with adults of 18 years and older.

Across age groups, the Philippines also leads as 94 percent of ages 18 to 29, 91 percent of ages 30 to 49 and 90 percent of ages 50 and above positively see the US.

Pew Research Center survey results showing Asian countries' view of the United States. Chart lifted from Bruce Stokes' presentation posted Saturday, September 20.

The survey came amid the Philippines' long-standing territorial dispute with regional power, China, in which the US has supported the country's pursuit for arbitration and slammed China's "provocative" actions at sea. The Philippines and the US, moreover, are defense treaty allies with a long history of bilateral relations.

Stokes, meanwhile, said South Korea follows the rank with 82 percent of its citizens with "favorable" perceptions of the Western power, followed by Vietnam and Bangladesh with 76 percent each, Thailand with 73 percent and Japan with 66 percent.

Also a majority of Indonesians (59 percent), Indians (55 percent) and Malaysians (51 percent) look at the US positively.

Only half of the Chinese—that is at 50 percent—have a favorable view of the US, while 43 percent saying they see it unfavorably.

Pakistan leads in unfavorable opinions of the US, with 59 percent, while only 14 percent say America is favorable.

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