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).