America’s influence in the Asia-Pacific and China’s continuing rise. 

Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly long-standing allies of the United States, such as Japan and South Korea, see American influence as strong and positive. Indonesia, Japan and South Korea consider the United States to be the most influential country in the region, while Australia and China view China as having more influence than the United States. In every country surveyed, respondents rated the United States as having more influence on that particular country than China. There is less ambiguity about China’s influence in the future however, with both Japanese and South Korean respondents predicting that China will be the most dominant country in the region ten years from now. Respondents across the Asia-Pacific tend to agree that we are either seeing, or have seen, the high-water mark of American power. There is a high degree of consensus that ‘American’s best days are in the past’ (61 per cent to 82 percent among the five countries surveyed) and that China will eventually replace the United States as the world’s leading superpower. Yet in all countries, respondents report wanting a stronger relationship with the United States, though not always as strongly as they report wanting one with China.