HKU POP SITE today releases latest survey findings of WorldPublicOpinion.org – on people's opinion towards the US relations with the Muslim worldBack

Press Release on December 16

Abstract

WouldPublicOpinion.org (or WPO) interviewed 21,740 people in 23 regions worldwide between July 15 and October 24. The survey finds that widespread opposition to the United States having naval forces based in the Persian Gulf. Most also believe that most people in the Persian Gulf region oppose such bases. Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org comments, "What is striking is that a major purpose of US naval forces in the Persian Gulf is to ensure the flow of oil to US allies, but in no case do the publics in these countries express majority support for the US having forces there." The margins of error of WPO surveys conducted around the world are controlled to the range of +/-2 to 4 percentage points.

Points to note:

* The Chinese website of "WorldPublicOpinion.org" is located at http://wpo.hkpop.hk and its English website is located at http://worldpublicopinion.org.
* Since there are sampling errors in the survey, the figures cannot be too accurate. When quoting percentages, journalists should refrain from reporting decimal places.

Latest Figures

POP today releases on schedule via the "HKU POP SITE" (http://hkupop.pori.hk) and "World Opinion Platform" (http://wpo.hkpop.hk) the latest figures of WouldPublicOpinion.org, which reflect people's opinions towards the US relations with the Muslim world. Herewith the contact information for the latest survey:

Date of survey	Overall sample size	Margin of error
Varies on 15/7-24/10/2008	21,740	Less than +/-4% in each region

Herewith the results of people in Greater China Region (GCR) and countries well-known to Hong Kong people. The theme is the US relations with the Muslim world. For other figures and contact information, please refer to "World Opinion Platform": *

Date of survey	15/7-24/10/2008
Sample base	Ranges from 600-2,223
Do you think it is a goal of the US to see the creation of an independent and economically viable Palestinian state?	Is definitely a goal	Is probably a goal	Is probably not a goal	Is definitely not a goal	DK/HS	Total
Greater China Region average	8%	28%	22%	12%	32%	100%
Hong Kong	10%	28%	27%	13%	22%	100%
Mainland	6%	14%	19%	15%	47%	100%
Taiwan	7%	41%	19%	7%	27%	100%
United States of America	17%	47%	21%	5%	10%	100%
Britain	12%	37%	23%	12%	16%	100%
France	7%	34%	27%	20%	12%	100%
Thailand	11%	22%	9%	8%	51%	100%
Germany	11%	30%	29%	21%	10%	100%
World average	13%	23%	20%	23%	21%	100%

Date of survey	15/7-24/10/2008
Sample base	Ranges from 600-2,223
Which of these three views is closest to yours?	A. The US mostly shows respect to the Islamic world	B. The US is often disrespectful to the Islamic world, but out of ignorance and insensitivity	C. The US purposely tries to humiliate the Islamic world	DK/HS	Total
Greater China Region average	9%	48%	16%	27%	100%
Hong Kong	10%	52%	20%	19%	100%
Mainland	7%	37%	18%	38%	100%
Taiwan	10%	56%	10%	25%	100%
United States of America	56%	31%	5%	8%	100%
Britain	22%	58%	7%	14%	100%
France	17%	58%	17%	9%	100%
Thailand	7%	16%	12%	65%	100%
Germany	11%	62%	21%	6%	100%
World average	16%	37%	30%	17%	100%
Do you think the US having naval forces based in the Persian Gulf is a good idea or a bad idea?	Good idea	Bad idea	Depends	DK/HS	Total
Greater China Region average	20%	53%	6%	21%	100%
Hong Kong	19%	59%	8%	13%	100%
Mainland	8%	54%	8%	30%	100%
Taiwan	32%	45%	3%	20%	100%
United States of America	70%	23%	0%	7%	100%
Britain	43%	39%	5%	13%	100%
France	41%	43%	8%	8%	100%
Thailand	9%	22%	32%	36%	100%
Germany	33%	52%	0%	15%	100%
World average	22%	52%	8%	17%	100%

Date of survey	15/7-24/10/2008
Sample base	Ranges from 600-2,223
What about the people in the Middle East? Do you think that the majority of them approve or disapprove of the US having naval forces based in the Persian Gulf?	Approve	Disapprove	DK/HS	Total
Greater China Region average	4%	76%	20%	100%
Hong Kong	4%	85%	11%	100%
Mainland	3%	65%	32%	100%
Taiwan	6%	79%	16%	100%
United States of America	24%	69%	7%	100%
Britain	8%	76%	16%	100%
France	11%	80%	9%	100%
Thailand	7%	40%	53%	100%
Germany	15%	71%	14%	100%
World average	13%	66%	21%	100%

*Except Hong Kong, Mainland and Taiwan, the other regions are those best known to Hong Kong people. According to the survey conducted by POP on May 2-6, 2008, the 10 regions best known to Hong Kong people are the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Canada, Germany and South Korea. Among these regions, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Thailand and Germany participated in this current survey. For details of survey on people's best known regions, please refer to the press release on May 20, 2008 at the "HKU POP SITE". The figures for Greater China Region are calculated based on the survey results of Hong Kong, Mainland and Taiwan. While different from the calculation of WPO, the findings of Hong Kong and Taiwan are included in figures for world average.

Results of the latest survey showed that the opinions of people in GCR on whether it is a goal of the US to see the creation of an independent and economically viable Palestinian state are divided. The percentages of respondents who thought "it is a goal", "it is not a goal" or "don't know/hard to say" varied among countries, of which nearly half of Taiwan people thought it is a goal of the US. Regarding the US's relation with the Islamic world, people in the three regions generally believed "the US is often disrespectful to the Islamic world, but out of ignorance and insensitivity", with percentages ranged from 37% to 56%, which were all higher than the world average. Percentages of people in GCR who thought "the US mostly shows respect to the Islamic world" and "the US purposely tries to humiliate the Islamic world" were relatively low.

Regarding whether the US having naval forces based in the Persian Gulf is a good or bad idea, people in the three regions generally had negative thoughts on it, with percentages ranged from 45% to 59%, which were similar with the world average. Besides, most people in GCR thought "the majority of people in the Middle East disapprove of the US having naval forces based in the Persian Gulf", with percentages ranged from 65% to 85%, in which the average was 10 percentage points higher than the world average.

Related Commentary

Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org comments, "What is striking is that a major purpose of US naval forces in the Persian Gulf is to ensure the flow of oil to US allies, but in no case do the publics in these countries express majority support for the US having forces there.". (For details please go to the website of WPO at http://www.worldpublicopinion.org.)

Additional Information: About WPO

WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO) was initiated and managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, USA. At present WPO consists of research centers from over 20 countries or regions including Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland and Taiwan (together called Greater China Region).

Apart from conducting the Hong Kong part of WPO survey, the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong is also responsible for designing and maintaining the Chinese homepage of the WPO at http://wpo.hkpop.hk, which can be accessed via the HKU POP Site at http://hkupop.pori.hk. Besides, POP is also responsible for coordinating the polls in the Greater China Region, and will follow the rhythm of the WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO) to globally release the Chinese versions of WPO's press releases regularly. We welcome questions for follow-up purpose, please email them to us at [email protected].