Saved by the Yellow Peril
They’re still the bad guys
American honor in Western Europe is now safe, thanks to the Chinese. According to a Harris/FT poll recently released, China has overtaken the United States as the principal menace to global stability in the view of the main Continental populations.
The poll, carried out between March 27 and April 8, found an average of 35 per cent of respondents in five European countries now identify China as a greater threat to stability than any other nation.
According to the Financial Times, (here):
“Italians were the most concerned about China with 47 per cent naming the country as the biggest threat, compared with 26 per cent when the question was last asked in June 2007…
“The latest Harris poll found that China was the biggest threat for 36 per cent in France, up from 22 per cent last year, 35 per cent in Germany, up from 18 per cent, and 27 per cent in the UK, up from 16 per cent. All three last year ranked the US as a bigger threat.
“Only inhabitants of Spain still considered the US to be a bigger threat than China, by 41 per cent to 28 per cent.”
It probably ought to be mentioned that the period when the poll was conducted coincided with the first and most interesting phase of the shambles relating to Tibet and the Olympic torch, so the Americans are hardly off the hook. 29 per cent of the Europeans surveyed still believe they constitute the most serious danger.
The striking Oriental worries shown by Italians almost certainly have to do with the especially damaging effects Chinese commercial competition has had on the economy of Italy. The kind of high-end but low tech manufacturing the country specializes in has been shown to be highly vulnerable to Asian price competition.