As President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao sought to deepen trust during talks in China,a just-released poll in Washington has found that a majority of Americans view Beijing as a "military threat" and source of "unfair competition" for US companies. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey,51 per cent of the public consider China a military threat,with 47 per cent disagreeing. The poll's release coincides with Obama's maiden visit to China to bolster ties. He discussed a host of issues with Hu,including climate change,economy,Tibet and terrorism. At a town hall meeting yesterday,Obama made the case to Chinese students that the two countries' philosophical differences should not get in the way of robust relations. According to the survey,two-thirds of Americans see China as a source of unfair competition for US companies,while only a quarter are more likely to view China as a huge potential market for American goods. "That may be why 71 per cent of Americans consider China an economic threat to the US," said CNN polling director Keating Holland. "Americans tend to view foreign countries as competition,and China is no exception." Only a quarter of those questioned in the poll say that China has a good track record on human rights. Sixty-eight per cent suggested that China is doing a bad job respecting the human rights of its citizens. The issue of human rights has often been a sticking point in Sino-US relations.
