Trust in China and US to behave plummets

Australians’ confidence that China will ‘act responsibly in the world’ has tumbled to its lowest level in 15 years.

Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: AFP

Australians’ confidence that China will “act responsibly in the world” has tumbled to its lowest level in 15 years. Just one in three people say they trust Beijing to do the right thing in international ­affairs, new polling shows.

But Australians’ confidence in the US is also at a low ebb. Only a bare majority of Australians say they trust the US to act responsibly and just one in four backs the leadership of President Donald Trump.

The findings are contained in the Lowy Institute’s annual poll of Australians’ views on key foreign affairs issues, which also reveals three in four people believe Australia is too economically dependent on China, and 68 per cent say Australia is allowing too much ­investment from China.

The results of the annual poll come as Scott Morrison seeks to balance the nation’s relationship with China and the US amid trade and strategic tensions between the two superpowers.

Two-thirds of the survey’s 2130 respondents say foreign interference in Australia is now a “critical threat” to the nation’s vital interests, an eight-point jump from the previous year’s poll.

The survey confirms climate change is a seen as a top-order threat to Australia’s interests after 64 per cent of respondents rated it as a “critical” issue.

However, perceptions of the threat posed by cyber attacks is ­almost on par with those on global warming as 61 per cent of respondents rate cyber intrusions as a “critical” danger, the same level of concern about terrorism.

The survey, conducted in March, found two-thirds of Australians believe Mr Trump has weakened Australia’s alliance with the US. But 72 per cent said the alliance was still important for Australia’s security.

When asked to choose between China and the US, more Australians favoured the US but only barely. Half of respondents said Australia should put a higher priority on maintaining strong relations with the US, even if this harmed relations with China and 44 per cent said Australia should prioritise improving relations with China, even if this undermined ­relations with the US.

In a sign Australians see the government’s “Pacific step-up” as a reaction to an increasingly ­assertive China, 73 per cent of respondents said Australia should seek to counter Chinese influence.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents support the Australian military fighting violent extremism in Southeast Asia, but only 50 per cent back the use of military force against extremists in Iraq.

Confidence in China to behave responsibly is down by 20 points since last year and is at its lowest level since the poll began.

The slump follows a sustained debate over interference by Beijing in Australia’s affairs, culminating in the passage of new foreign interference laws last June.