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               Survey Finds Many Chinese Support American Ideals

   by William Gallo

   As China prepares for a carefully orchestrated transition in its
   Communist Party leadership, a new survey suggests a growing number of
   Chinese like the very different way the United States chooses its
   leaders.
   The[1] survey by Pew Research Center suggests that 52 percent of people
   in the single-party state have a positive opinion of American ideas
   about democracy, a figure four percent higher than in 2007. Among high
   income Chinese, 7 in 10 said they like American democratic ideals.
   Interest in US election
   The data was released as China is set to begin its once-a-decade
   leadership transfer, a secretive, behind-the-scenes process that is
   undertaken without a popular vote. It also comes during the height of a
   U.S. presidential campaign that Chinese are increasingly enamored with.
   That fact was not lost on China's Communist Party-controlled newspaper,
   the Global Times, which acknowledged this week that many
   English-speaking Chinese were watching the U.S. presidential debates
   with interest. This, it said, showed their "admiration for U.S.-style
   democracy."
   But the paper, which often reflects official views, was careful to
   point out that more than half the respondents to the Pew survey said
   they do not like the U.S. And it said that the number of those who
   think China should adopt U.S. political ideas is shrinking.
   The Pew survey did not provide any figures that proved or disproved
   this theory. But it did say that 82 percent of Chinese reported being
   "happy with the way things are going" in China, suggesting that most
   are not upset with Communist Party rule.
   Influential Internet
   Jeremy Goldkorn, the editor of Danwei.com, a website about Chinese
   media and Internet, explaines it is natural that many Chinese are
   paying more attention to the U.S. presidential campaign, given the
   rising influence of the Internet.
   "The rise of social media and in particular Weibo, which has made it
   very easy for people to follow the debates in real time, has certainly
   generated some excitement of some Chinese who are active on the
   Internet," says Goldkorn.
   Goldkorn says it is mainly young, tech-savvy people who are watching
   the debates online, since they are not shown on Chinese television.
   But as to whether those watching like what they see and want it to come
   to their country, Goldkorn says it is difficult to tell.
   "People don't necessarily say that because China doesn't have an
   electoral democracy like the United States it's worse, or that China
   should mimic the United States," says Goldkorn. "There are people who
   say that. But there are also plenty and plenty of people who may find
   the United States' democracy attractive but nonetheless don't think it
   will work in China."
   Frustration
   One thing that does seem clear from the survey is that the Chinese
   public are getting increasingly frustrated with certain aspects of
   their own system, including economic inequality, food safety scandals,
   and notably, political corruption.
   Richard Wike, the Associate Director of the Pew Global Attitudes
   Project, said that corrupt officials are now one of the top concerns of
   the Chinese public.
   "Back in 2008, when we asked about this, we already had a fairly large
   number of people telling us it was a major problem. Thirty-nine percent
   said corrupt officials were a very big problem back then. This year,
   though, that's up significantly, it's up to 50 percent saying that
   corrupt officials are a very big problem in the country," says Wike.
   The problem of corruption has been highlighted by a series of recent
   high-profile scandals involving Communist Party leaders, including Bo
   Xilai, the disgraced ex-Politburo member whose wife has been convicted
   of murder. Other less well-known scandals are a regular occurrence
   within party ranks.
   China's Communist leaders have said they see widespread corruption as a
   factor that threatens their rule, and have vowed to correct the problem
   as the leadership transition begins next month.
   But the party seems reluctant to embrace any Western-style changes to
   its political system. A Global Times editorial earlier this week said
   that many are using the issue of corruption to "attack China's
   political system." But it warned that "fighting corruption isn't all
   about political reform."
     __________________________________________________________________

   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/pew-survey-finds-many-chiinese-suppor
   t-american-ideals/1529440.html

References

   1. http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2012/10/Pew-Global-Attitudes-China-Report-FINAL-October-10-20122.pdf
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/pew-survey-finds-many-chiinese-support-american-ideals/1529440.html