Majority of Asians prefer Kerry than Bush: survey

Majority of Asians prefer Kerry than Bush: survey

P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse, Washington

A majority of Asians want Democratic party senator John Kerry at the White House, according to a global poll in which incumbent President George W. Bush was rebuffed by traditional U.S. allies.

Of seven Asian nations which took part in the survey, China, Japan and Indonesia gave solid backing for Kerry while the Philippines stood behind Bush.

India and Thailand were however largely divided in the poll by global research firm GlobeScan Inc. and the University of Maryland, a local institution.

Some 35 countries from all regions in the world took part in the survey covering a total of 34,330 people and conducted mainly in July and August.

Kerry emerged favorite in 30 countries and on average, beat his Republican rival by more than a two-to-one margin -- 46 percent to 20 percent.

"Only one in five want to see Bush reelected," said Steven Kull, the director of the university's program on international policy attitudes. "Though he is not as well known, Kerry would win handily if the people of the world were to elect the U.S. president."

The only countries where Bush was preferred in the poll were the Philippines, Nigeria and Poland.

The margin of error in the survey ranged from 2.3 percentage points to five percentage points.

In Japan, regarded as America's best friend in Asia, Kerry was favored among 43 percent of those polled compared with 23 percent for Bush.

The presidential aspirant was also preferred by clear majorities in China (52 percent to Bush's 12 percent) and Indonesia (57 percent to 34 percent).

But those polled were divided in India (Kerry 34 percent, Bush 33 percent) and Thailand (Kerry 30 percent, Bush 33 percent).

Kerry was strongly preferred in Britain, Norway, Germany, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.

Even among countries that have contributed troops to Iraq, most favored Kerry, and said that their view of U.S. foreign policy has gotten worse under Bush.

They included Britain, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Japan, Norway and Spain.

Asked how President Bush's foreign policy had affected their feelings towards the United States, a majority of those polled in 31 countries said it made them feel "worse" about America, while those in only three countries said it had made them feel "better."

"Perhaps most sobering for Americans is the strength of the view that U.S. foreign policy is on the wrong track, even in countries contributing troops in Iraq," said GlobeScan President Doug Miller.

While Asia was the most mixed region in terms of the poll's findings, Kerry still did better.

Bush's greatest support came from the Philippines, where 57 percent of those surveyed favored him compared with 32 percent for Kerry, despite a recent row over Manila's decision to pull out its troops from Iraq prematurely.

Survey organizers attributed the support to Bush's post 9/11 training aid to the Philippine military battling the Al-Qaeda- linked Abu Sayyaf terror group in the country's troubled south.

This "may have engendered significant goodwill," the organizers said.

In Europe, the exception for Bush was a new ally, Poland, where he was preferred by a narrow majority of 31 percent against Kerry's 26 percent.

Another new European ally, the Czech Republic, however went for Kerry as did Sweden.

Latin Americans went for Kerry in all nine countries polled while in Africa, Bush was preferred in only one -- Nigeria -- of six states.

Strongest negative views on U.S. foreign policy were held in Germany, with 83 percent of those polled saying "worse" followed by France (81 percent) and Mexico (78 percent) and China (72 percent).