Friday, January 19, 2024 | 12:00 AM EST - 12:00 AM EST
According to a Chicago Council survey conducted in September 2023, Americans are more concerned about China’s rise now than at any point since the end of the Cold War. A record level of Americans consider China’s transformation into a global power to be a threat to U.S. interests, and are more likely to say that the U.S. government’s efforts to counter China’s rise have been insufficient.
Although those surveyed are confident in U.S. military power compared to China’s military power, Americans are divided on which country is stronger economically. From human rights to intellectual property rights, Americans are more likely to say that the U.S. government’s response to China has not gone far enough than to say it has been about right.
In an interview recorded on January 19, 2024 with Kate Kaup, Craig Kafura discusses the findings of the Chicago Council’s survey on U.S. attitudes towards China.
Speaker
Craig Kafura
Craig Kafura is the assistant director for public opinion and foreign policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs where he coordinates research on public and elite opinion on a range of foreign policy and international affairs issues. Since joining the Council in 2011, Mr. Kafura has written or coauthored numerous reports and briefs on public opinion and foreign policy. He is involved in all aspects of the research process: designing survey questionnaires and samples, analyzing survey data, writing reports, and presenting findings to public, academic, and government audiences.
He regularly participates in Track 2 dialogues on political and security issues in Asia. His writing has appeared in outlets including Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, and The Diplomat.
Mr. Kafura is a Truman National Security Project fellow, a Pacific Forum Young Leader, and a 2021 US-Australia Next-Generation Leader. He received his MA from Columbia University and BA from Yale University.
Moderator
Katherine Palmer Kaup
Katherine Palmer Kaup is James B. Duke Professor of Asian Studies and Politics and International Affairs at Furman University in Greenville, SC. She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Committee on U.S. -China Relations. Her research focuses on ethnic minorities, rule of law, and human rights developments in China as well as on U.S.-China relations. She is the author of Creating the Zhuang: Ethnic Politics in China, and is editor and contributor to the textbook Understanding Contemporary Asia (2nd edition 2021). She has served as special adviser for minority nationalities affairs at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, distinguished visiting professor at Yunnan Minzu University, visiting scholar at the Guangxi Ethnic Affairs Commission, and PI/program director for several federally-funded Chinese language programs and for the Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment. She holds a BA from Princeton and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.
