Although the BBC in the UK and GlobeScan in Canada cooperated in conducting
surveys on the degree of favorability towards China and on feelings regarding the
China threat, they were supported by the United States (their global public opinion
surveys were basically funded by numerous US foundations^5 ). (2)“China topics”
were successfully inserted into relevant public opinion surveys. The Transatlantic
Trends survey conducted by the German Marshall Fund in the United States is an
obvious example; it only focused on American and European public opinions about
transatlantic relations in their early stages, but it has incorporated the China issue as
one of the main issues in its transatlantic relations survey in recent years. Besides an
objective reflection on the prominence of the China factor in transatlantic relations,
it also showed that the USA led a kind of“Americanization”of European public
opinions regarding China by inserting issues such as the China threat. (3) Logical
reasoning designed by the USA was contained, in other words, within a certain
logical reasoning and was hidden behind impressions of China, China’s responsi-
bilities, the China threat and China’s developmental prospects; if China has a good
image, China is responsible, and China’s development does not pose any threat; no
matter how China develops in the future, China should be welcomed and supported,
otherwise, it should be contained.
(^5) Major funders include the Rockefeller Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Ford
foundation, the German Marshall Fund in the United States, the Carnegie Foundation, the
University System of Maryland Foundation, etc., for details, seehttp://www.worldpublicopinion.
org/pipa/about.php?nid=&id=.
226 L. Zuokui