People in China are increasingly worried about corruption, inequality and food safety, according to a survey that also found that about half of Chinese like American ideas about democracy.

Chinese citizens have become far more concerned about domestic quality-of-life issues over the past four years, the Pew Global Attitudes Project report on attitudes in China found.

The new attitudes highlight the challenges China’s new leadership will face when it assumes power in a once-in-a-decade transition next month. China’s runaway growth in recent decades has led to a yawning gap between rich and poor and worsening pollution. The Communist Party has said repeatedly that pervasive corruption threatens its hold on power.

Most Chinese say they are better off financially, according to the Pew survey, but inflation remains their top concern, with 60 percent saying it’s a “very big problem,” though that figure was down from 72 percent in 2008.

Half of the respondents said corrupt officials are a major problem, up from 39 percent four years ago. The gap between rich and poor was the third biggest concern, with 48 percent of respondents citing it, up from 41 percent in 2008.

Concerns over the safety of food and medicine have increased the most. In 2008, 12 percent said food safety was a major problem; this time, after numerous food scandals involving products from baby powder to pork, the number more than tripled to 41 percent.

Quality of life issues are coming to the foreground in China as average incomes rise and leisure time increases, said Steve Tsang, a professor of contemporary Chinese studies at the University of Nottingham, who wasn’t connected to the survey.

“People have to live with them on a daily basis,” he said. “When one was too busy making a living to get bothered by them in the past, less attention was paid to them. Now that the overall standard of living has improved and individuals have more scope to slow down and reflect a bit, the poor quality of life becomes more of an issue.”

The survey released Tuesday indicated a small increase in the embrace of U.S. democratic ideas _ up to 52 percent, from 48 percent in 2007 _ though it was unclear whether that reflected a real increase, because the difference was smaller than the poll’s margin of error.

A decrease in the number of people rejecting American democratic thought was more dramatic, down to 29 percent from 36 percent in 2007.

Joseph Cheng, a political scientist at the City University of Hong Kong, said tightening state control over dissidence in the past five years has prompted many Chinese to become frustrated with their political system, but he doesn’t think they are ready to press for Western-style democracy.

“While the appeal of Western democracy has been enhanced, Chinese people have no intention and they haven’t the political will to challenge the existing regime,” Cheng said. “Chinese people understand that their living standards have been improving in the past 30 years and more and they still expect further improvements in the coming decade.”

The research by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center also found that a growing number of Chinese are concerned about China-U.S. ties. A quarter described the relationship as hostile, up from 8 percent two years ago. Meanwhile, confidence in President Barack Obama to do the right thing in world affairs slipped from 52 percent to 38 percent.

Pew said the survey was based on face-to-face interviews with 3,177 respondents between March 18 and April 15. It gave a margin of error of 4.3 percent. The poll represents approximately 64 percent of China’s adult population, and the sample was disproportionately urban. China prohibits foreign polling organizations from surveying Chinese directly, so Pew obtained the poll data from Horizon Research Consultancy Group, a respected Beijing-based polling company. (AP)



<관련 한글 기사>



중국인 52%, “美 민주주의 좋다”

최근 실시된 한 조사 결과에 따르면 최근 정치부패, 불평등, 식량안전 문제를 걱정하는 중국인들이 크게 늘고 있는 가운데 전체 중국인의 절반이 ‘미국식’ 민주주의에 찬성하고 있는 것으로 나타났다.

퓨글로벌애티튜드프로젝트(Pew Global Attitudes Project)가 중국인의 행동 및 사고양식과 관련해 실시한 조사결과 발표에 따르면 최근 4년간 중국 내 평등의 문제에 대해 우려하는 중국인의 수가 크게 늘어난 것으로 밝혀졌다.

이와 같은 새로운 양상은 10년에 한번 꼴로 치러지는 중국의 정권 이양이 다음 달로 다가옴에 따라 중국의 새 지도부에게는 도전 과제로 다가올 전망이다. 최근 수십년간 무섭게 성장한 중국은 극심한 빈부격차와 환경오염으로 이어졌다. 중국 집권 공산당은 당국 내에 만연한 부패가 공산당의 집권에 악영향을 끼치고 있다고 밝혀왔다.

삶의 질에 관한 문제는 중국의 평균 소득수준이 향상되고 여가 시간이 늘어나면서 사회 전면으로 부상하고 있다고 노팅엄대학교 현대중국학 교수인 스티브 챙 교수가 말했다.

한편 지난 화요일에 발표된 이 조사 결과에 따르면 52퍼센트의 중국인들이 미국식 민주주의를 옹호하는 것으로 나타나 지난 2007년의 48퍼센트에서 소폭 상승한 모습을 보였다. 또한 반대로 미국식 민주주의를 거부하는 사람들의 비율은 2007년의 36퍼센트에서 29퍼센트로 크게 감소했다.

그러나 홍콩시립대학교 정치학과 조셉 챙 교수는 이러한 결과가 중국인들이 자국의 정치 체제를 변화시키기를 바란다는 것을 의미하지는 않는다고 설명했다.

이번 조사는 3월부터 4월 사이 3,177명의 중국인을 대상으로 면대면 인터뷰 방식을 통해 실시됐으며 오차범위는 4.3%이다. (코리아헤럴드)