From ‘poor’ to ‘bad,’ Filipinos trust in China plunges in September 2019 — SWS

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is accompanied by People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Filipinos’ trust in China plunged even more as shown in the latest survey released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on Wednesday, November 20.

In the Third Quarter 2019 Social Weather Survey, a total of 1,800 respondents were asked about how much they trust these selected countries: United States (U.S), China, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Responding to this, 54 percent of them said they had “little trust” in China, while 21 percent said they had “much trust.”

This yielded to a net trust rating of “bad” -33 in September 2019, a nine-point decrease from the “poor” -24 in June 2019.

According to the pollster, this figure is the “lowest” since the “bad” -35 recorded in the same month in 2018. It added that the trust in China has been positive only in nine out of 51 surveys since they first surveyed it in August 1994.

“It has reached as high as moderate +17 in June 2010 and as low as bad -46 in September 2015,” it said.

While this was the case for China, Filipinos’ trust in the U.S. remained “excellent,” at +72, with 80 percent of the respondents saying they had “much trust” in the U.S., while eight percent said they had “little trust.”

The SWS noted that it was “no different” from the +73 record in June 2019.

The U.S.’ net trust, it added, has been positive since they first surveyed it in December 1994.

The same survey also showed that Australia’s and Japan’s net trusts stayed “very good” at +37 and +35, respectively.

Singapore also maintained its “moderate” trust rating at +26.

Filipinos’ trust in Vietnam, however, fell from “moderate” to “neutral” at zero net.

The latest survey was conducted from September 27 to 30 this year using face-to-face interviews of its respondents. It has sampling error margins of plus-minus 2.3 percent for national percentages, plus-minus four percent each for Balance Luzon and Mindanao, and plus-minus six percent each for Metro Manila and Visayas.

‘Not surprised’

Reacting to the survey on Thursday, November 21, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said they were not surprised that China was the least trusted country of the Filipinos given the “conflicting positions” of the two countries in connection with the West Philippine Sea.

“Despite the territorial dispute not being the sum total of our relationship with China, the Office of the President will neither court nor force any citizen to change his or her sentiments toward our giant neighbor in the North,” Panelo said.

“We will respect their conviction the way we value their allegiance to the Republic and its elements,” he added.

Despite this, the Palace said it still believes that the Filipinos will appreciate China in the future, considering President Rodrigo Duterte’s independent foreign policy that is favorable to the Filipino people.

“Verily, China could even become a role model of the Philippines in reducing, if not totally eradicating, poverty,” it said.