To most Australians, China is " more of an economic partner to Australia" than a "military threat. " This is part of the findings of a poll released Tuesday by Australia's leading international relations study center, the Lowy Institute.
After a survey of 1,200 Australian adults by telephone between February 20 and March 8, 2015, the Lowy Institute finds that 77 percent of Australian adults take China as Australia's economic partner while only 15 percent of them see China as a military threat.
The poll has an error margin of approximately 2.8 percent.
Around 73 percent of the interviewees hold that "Australia should develop closer relations with China as it grows in influence."
Although many Australians feel unease about the security tensions in Asia, 84 percent of them would prefer Australia " remaining neutral" in case of a conflict between China and Japan.
As a result of the housing bubbles in Sydney and Melbourne, about 70 percent of the surveyed think their government allows too much Chinese investment in residential real estate.
"Australians' views on China are always mixed and this year is no exception: while perceptions of China as a military threat appear to have waned somewhat, this is counterbalanced by the emergence of a strong opposition to Chinese investment in residential real estate," said Alex Oliver, director of the poll.
