HKU POP SITE today releases latest survey findings of WorldPublicOpinion.org – on publics' opinion on NATO mission in AfghanistanBack

Press Release on July 24, 2009

Abstract

WouldPublicOpinion.org (or WPO) interviewed 19,178 people in 23 regions worldwide between April 4 and June 12, 2009. The survey finds that most publics polled believe that the Afghan people want NATO forces to leave Afghanistan now. On average 53 percent have this belief, while 30 percent assume that most Afghans want NATO forces to stay "Even though there is widespread concern about the possibility of the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan, most people seem to be saying that the Afghan people should decide whether or when NATO forces leave," comments Steven Kull, Director of WorldPublicOpinion.org. The margins of error of WPO surveys conducted around the world are controlled to the range of +/-3 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 on NATO mission in Afghanistan. Herewith the contact information for the latest survey:

Date of survey	Overall sample size	Margin of error
Varies on 4/4-12/6/2009	19,178	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 people's views on NATO mission in Afghanistan, please refer to "World Opinion Platform": *

Date of survey	4/4-12/6/2009
Sample base	Ranges from 500 to 1,235
Q1. As you may know the UN has authorized a NATO mission in Afghanistan, manned by forces from the US and other countries. This mission is meant to stabilize Afghanistan and help the government defend itself from Taliban insurgents. Do you approve or disapprove of this mission?	Approve	Disapprove	DK/NR	Total
Greater China Region average	41%	40%	19%	100%
Hong Kong	45%	34%	21%	100%
Macau	43%	35%	22%	100%
Mainland	20%	65%	15%	100%
Taiwan	55%	26%	19%	100%
United States of America	72%	26%	2%	100%
Britain	57%	36%	7%	100%
France	58%	34%	8%	100%
South Korea	73%	25%	2%	100%
Germany	45%	49%	6%	100%
World average	44%	43%	13%	100%

Q2. Do you think the NATO mission in Afghanistan should be continued or do you think it should be ended now?	NATO mission should be continued	NATO mission should be ended now	DK/NR	Total
Greater China Region average	32%	49%	19%	100%
Hong Kong	39%	44%	18%	100%
Macau	31%	48%	21%	100%
Mainland	14%	69%	17%	100%
Taiwan	44%	35%	21%	100%
United States of America	66%	30%	4%	100%
Britain	47%	47%	6%	100%
France	53%	38%	10%	100%
South Korea	--	--	--	100%
Germany	42%	52%	7%	100%
World average	38%	49%	14%	100%

Q3. Do you think that most people in Afghanistan want NATO forces to remain for now, or do you think most want the NATO forces to leave now?	Most want NATO forces to remain for now	Most want NATO forces to leave now	DK/NR	Total
Greater China Region average	25%	48%	27%	100%
Hong Kong	29%	44%	27%	100%
Macau	20%	51%	28%	100%
Mainland	--	--	--	100%
Taiwan	26%	49%	25%	100%
United States of America	56%	39%	5%	100%
Britain	35%	47%	18%	100%
France	29%	46%	25%	100%
South Korea	--	--	--	100%
Germany	33%	55%	11%	100%
World average	29%	52%	19%	100%

Q4. If the Taliban were to regain power in Afghanistan do you think this would be very good, somewhat good, somewhat bad or very bad?	Very good	Some-what good	Some-what bad	Very bad	Neither good nor bad	DK/NR	Total
Greater China Region average	2%	12%	29%	31%	4%	24%	100%
Hong Kong	1%	10%	33%	29%	6%	22%	100%
Macau	3%	11%	28%	31%	2%	25%	100%
Mainland	3%	13%	28%	25%	8%	23%	100%
Taiwan	1%	12%	25%	37%	1%	25%	100%
United States of America	0%	4%	17%	77%	0%	2%	100%
Britain	0%	3%	19%	72%	2%	4%	100%
France	1%	4%	26%	62%	1%	7%	100%
South Korea	3%	21%	41%	32%	1%	2%	100%
Germany	0%	1%	15%	78%	2%	4%	100%
World average	5%	14%	23%	38%	5%	14%	100%

Q5. As you may know, the Obama administration decided to increase the number of American troops in Afghanistan. Do you approve or disapprove of this decision?	Approve	Disapprove	DK/NR	Total
Greater China Region average	29%	53%	18%	100%
Hong Kong	30%	51%	19%	100%
Macau	28%	53%	18%	100%
Mainland	14%	70%	17%	100%
Taiwan	43%	38%	18%	100%
United States of America	67%	31%	2%	100%
Britain	50%	41%	8%	100%
France	41%	49%	10%	100%
South Korea	48%	49%	4%	100%
Germany	37%	54%	9%	100%
World average	34%	53%	12%	100%

*Except Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland and Taiwan, the other regions are those best known to Hong Kong people. According to the survey conducted by POP on May 5 to 7, 2009, the 10 regions best known to Hong Kong people are the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Australia, Canada, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Germany. Among these regions, the United States, United Kingdom, France, South Korea 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 19, 2009 at the "HKU POP SITE". The figures for Greater China Region are calculated based on the survey results of Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland and Taiwan. Different from the calculation of WPO, the findings of these four regions are included in figures for world average.

Results of the latest survey showed that, views from the publics in GCR on NATO mission in Afghanistan are divided, with a respective of 41% and 40% opted for "approve" and "disapprove". Those opted for "NATO mission should be eneded by now", "most people in Afghanistan want NATO forces to leave now" and "disapprove Obama administration's decision to increase the number of American troops in Afghanistan" amounted to 49%, 48% and 53% respectively. Besides, a respective of 29% and 31% publics in GCR believed that Taliban to regain power in Afghanistan was a "somewhat bad" or "very bad" thing.

Related Commentary

WorldPublicOpinion.org comments, "A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of nations around the world finds that most publics polled believe that the Afghan people want NATO forces to leave Afghanistan now. On average 53 percent have this belief, while 30 percent assume that most Afghans want NATO forces to stay." Steven Kull, Director of WorldPublicOpinion.org comments, "Even though there is widespread concern about the possibility of the Taliban regaining power in Afghanistan, most people seem to be saying that the Afghan people should decide whether or when NATO forces leave." (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].