War in Iraq costs U.S. friends in Asia: Survey

War in Iraq costs U.S. friends in Asia: Survey

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Hong Kong

The conflict in Iraq has cost the U.S. friends in Asia with most of the region skeptical about Washington's foreign policy and the war on terror, a survey indicated on Monday.

However, there is a clear split between countries that support and oppose the U.S. with the Philippines emerging as George W. Bush's biggest supporter and Indonesia its strongest critic.

Seventy eight percent of people in the Philippines said they felt positive towards the U.S., followed by Singapore where the U.S. got a 42 percent approval rating and Taiwan where 39 percent were pro-American.

While Vietnam, Japan and South Korea were largely neutral in their opinion about the U.S., 59 percent of Indonesians were negative while 47 percent of Hong Kong people and 38 percent of Malaysians had negative opinions.

On U.S. foreign policy, the Philippines again came out on top with 61 percent voicing positive views. Fifty two percent of respondents in both Singapore and Taiwan also expressed positive views.

The country most critical of U.S. foreign policy was Indonesia where 57 percent were negative followed by Japan (56 percent negative), South Korea (43 percent negative), Hong Kong (37 percent negative) and Malaysia (32 percent negative).

When asked about the war on terror, more than 60 percent of people in the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam said they felt positively about the U.S. role while more than half of people in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia felt negatively.

People in Asia were far more positive on their opinion of the U.S. when asked about its contribution to the world economy, the survey conducted by Gallup International and market research company TNS found.

Only in South Korea and Malaysia did a higher proportion of people believe the U.S. had a more negative than positive impact on the economy.

James Hall, regional manager of TNS Asia Pacific, said of the findings: "Although on particular issues Asia appears divided, there remains an overall widespread low opinion of the U.S.

"Most probably this low opinion comes as a result of the U.S.'s highly unpopular decision to proceed with military action in Iraq which ... Asia was particularly opposed to."

The interviews in nine Asian countries and territories were among 50,000 conducted worldwide for the Gallup and TNS survey.