Effects of International Trade on East and Southeast Asians’ Views of China

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the effects of trade on individuals’ views of China. Specifically, winners and losers of trade with China – in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand –are expected to have different views of China. Using the Pew Research Center 2014 survey, the results of empirical analyses show that, regardless of whether they are expected to be the winners or not, educated individuals were more likely to view China as a threat to their country than the less educated. Meanwhile, although support for trade ties with other countries was positively associated with favorable opinions of China, in the upper-middleand high-income countries, it did not particularly reduce the likelihood of viewing China as a threat. In short, although trade can foster favorable views of China among individuals in East and Southeast Asia, China can still be regarded as a threat to their country.