How Filipinos look at China
Many may not have heard of WRN Research yet but they soon will. WRN Research has established itself as among the most credible research organizations in the country, now spoken of in the same breath as SWS and Pulse Asia. Management of the research group is composed of young doctorate holders led by founder and chairman, Dr. Robin Michael Garcia.
The group recently organized a forum on China’s threats to national security. The well attended event revealed many insights, not the least of which is the Filipino’s sentiments towards China. In summary, it showed that the Filipino people are not fooled by Chinese propaganda and in fact view the communist nation as a territorial grabber, global rabble rouser and bully. The survey proves that the work of Chinese disinformation networks and treasonous Filipinos who push China’s narratives in social media and some newspapers have been ineffective.
These are the key insights of the WRN survey.
An overwhelming 36.8 percent of Filipinos do not trust Xi Jinping. Vladimir Putin follows as the most distrusted world leader with a 24 percent distrust rating. In contrast, 45.8 percent of Filipinos believe that US President Joe Biden is doing right in world affairs. Only 14.9 percent say they have no confidence in the US president. Fumio Kishida of Japan follows Biden as the most trusted leader with a 37 percent approval rating.
Correspondingly, Filipinos view the Americans as our most trusted ally with a 77.1 percent approval rating. They are followed by the British, Canadians and Japanese with scores of 66.7 percent, 66 percent and 65.5 percent, respectively.
Only 28 percent of Filipinos consider ordinary mainland Chinese to be trustworthy. The majority, or 72 percent of the population, view them with suspicion. Following the Chinese as the most distrusted are the Russians, Indians, South Africans and Saudi Arabians, in that order.
Sixty-five percent of the population believe that tensions are worsening in the West Philippine Sea. And compared to president Duterte, 26.1 percent say that Marcos is handling the China crisis better. Only 20.8 percent say Duterte did a better job.
The Filipino people are clearly impressed with the
