Poll: Pinoys trust United States the most; China least trusted

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos continue to distrust China amid the ongoing conflict in the West Philippine Sea, with most saying the country should not align itself with Beijing, a recent poll found.

The Feb. 21 to 29 survey conducted by Oculum Research and Analytics found that only 17 percent of respondents have “great trust” in China while 38 percent had “less or no trust.”

In contrast, 75 percent said they have “great trust” in the United States, with only two percent saying they have “less or no trust.”

Among 16 countries and territories included in the list, China obtained the least trust rating among respondents.

Following the US were Canada (69 percent), Australia (65 percent), Japan (59 percent), United Kingdom (58 percent), Singapore (55 percent), Taiwan (54 percent) and Hong Kong (52 percent).

Obtaining less than 50 percent were the Netherlands (48 percent), United Arab Emirates (47 percent), Saudi Arabia (40 percent), Qatar (40 percent), Kuwait (39 percent), Israel (39 percent) and Russia (26 percent).

Respondents were asked which country the Philippines should align with amid the conflict in the West Philippine Sea, with 43 percent answering the US and three percent saying China.

Some 40 percent said the Philippines should align neither with the US nor China, while 15 percent said they were not sure.

“The survey results regarding the preferred alignment of the Philippines in the context of the South China Sea dispute offer a revealing glimpse into public opinion on this significant international issue,” said Oculum chief statistician Joseph Mercado.

“The low level of trust in China and a relatively high level of distrust could be attributed to geopolitical tensions, economic competition, territorial disputes, or concerns over political and human rights issues,” he added.

Oculum’s non-commissioned survey had 3,000 respondents and a two percent margin of error.

Philippine-China dialogue

Despite Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri hopes the Marcos administration can hold a dialogue with China to de-escalate tensions.

“Under this administration, maybe we should improve our diplomacy with neighboring country China. In other words, to talk to them bilaterally as well as to come up with a code of conduct. A code of conduct is very important so as not to escalate, to increase the tensions here in our West Philippine Sea,” Zubiri said in a radio interview yesterday.

While he acknowledged that China does not seem to be listening, Zubiri maintained the Philippines should “exert all efforts to have a dialogue with them.”

“With the actions they are taking, our fellow Filipinos could die. For example, the Coast Guard, our fisherfolk or the Armed Forces and the Navy,” he added. — Cecille Suerte Felipe