UNIVERSITY OF PIRAEUS DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF PIRAEUS DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN STUDIES RESEARCH AND RESULTS OF: THE PERCEPTION OF GREEK PEOPLE ABOUT CHINA Research for the election course: Foreign Policy and Society of China Professor in charge: Students in charge: Kotzias Nikolaos Agrapidi Sofia - Eirini Gavardina Sofia Koutsoviti Elisabeth Trikaki Evdokia - Maria

Piraeus, January 2014 CONTENTS UNIVERSITY OF PIRAEUS... 1 DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN STUDIESError! not defined. Bookmark RESEARCH AND RESULTS: THE PERCEPTION OF GREEK PEOPLE ABOUT CHINA.....Error! Bookmark not defined. 1. Introduction..4 2. Results Analysis....5 2.1. General Knowledge Questions.5 2.1.1. Would you like to visit China?...5 2.1.2. Which of the following do you consider to be the language of the future?... 6 2.1.3. Would you like to learn Chinese?... 7 2.1.4. Should Chinese be taught in schools?... 8 2.2. General Knowledge Questions.9 2.2.1. Do you think that Chinese universities are equal to those of America and Europe?... 9 2.2.2 Do you believe that the ancient Greek and the ancient Chinese culture have common characteristics?...10 2.2.3. Taiwan: Is it an independent State, does it belong to China or is it something «intermediate»?... 12 2.2.4. What is China s official name?... 13 2.3. Questions Of Economic Nature... 14 2

2.3.1. What do you believe to be China s economic growth due to?... 14 2.3.2. Do you consider the Chinese products to be reliable?... 16 2.3.3. Do you believe that Greece should develop more economic relations with China?.....17 2.3.4. Do you consider pollution in China to affect the environment on a global scale.... 18 2.4. Questions on China s foreign policy... 19 2.4.1. Do you consider China to be the next world superpower?... 19 2.4.2. Which country do you consider to be friendlier towards Greece: Russia, the US, France, China, or Germany?... 20 2.4.3. How would you describe China s system of government?... 22 3. How do the Chinese view the world?... 23 4. Conclusions...26 5. Bibliography... 30 3

1. Introduction This research has been conducted by a group of students of the Department of International and European Relations in the University of Piraeus, for the elective course The society and the foreign policy of China. Its objective is the research of perceptions of Greeks, concerning China and its civilization today. This research is an initiative of course s professor Mr. N. Kotzias in conjunction with students eager participation. This research takes place every year since 2008, during the same time period, and includes a nationwide poll, in a sample of men and women over 18 years old. The derived results are compared to those from the previous years, so that it becomes understood how the perception and opinions of Greeks concerning China has changed. In December 2013 the opinion of 564 persons was asked, from different parts of the country. In this case, the confidence interval is 95%, while the maximum allowable error is 4.16%. The data collection became possible with short telephone interviews and an electronic questionnaire. Its questions have been formed and voted upon by the course s students, and with professor s Kotzias help. The poll has been conducted in Kappa Research s centrals in Athens. Four kinds of questions were asked during the poll: questions of personal opinion, general knowledge, economic and of foreign policy. The first ones were about the positive or negative stance of Greek people towards China and its civilization. The general knowledge, economic and foreign policy questions were targeted at demonstrating the interest of Greeks about China s position in the international political spectrum. 4

2. Results Analysis 2.1. General Knowledge Questions 2.1.1. Would you like to visit China? With a rate of 64, 4% it is clear that both men and women in Attica and in province would like to visit China. A small deviation (of three units) is observed between men and women, as the answers given by region have a five-point difference, with 66.7 % and 61.2 % of Attica and province respectively. Those who answered negatively were more than those that were uncertain, as we can see in the overall rate of 22.7 % in the no response and in the overall rate of 11% in perhaps response. Finally, only 1.9 % did not know or did not want to answer. At this point it is necessary to explain that the differentiation of the results between the areas of Attica and of the province is mainly due to the specific high urbanization rate of the Greek population, where one third of registered residents living and inventoried in the Attica region. This differentiation enables us to identify the preferences of the Greeks within and outside the narrow urban center. The supremacy of positive responses to this question was almost expected, as it was compared to earlier surveys (of students enrolled in this course), where the results were similar. A (typical) example worth mentioning, are the results of the first survey on China ever made in Greece, during the academic semester in 2008-2009, where the results of the same question showed that «more than the ¾ want to travel and get acquainted with China, while this rate in young population surpasses 90 %!" The Greeks have an increased interest in visiting China, not only as a tourist destination, but, judging by the results surveys, because of cultural interest as well. 5

Would you like to visit China? YES NO MAYBE DK/NA 1,9% 11% 22,7% 64,4% 2.1.2. Which of the following do you consider to be the language of the future? The overall rates show that the Chinese language outweighed the other options, with a 43% of the overall sample. Τhe German language comes second, with 20.4%. The percentage of our sample that did not know the answer was 18.4%, while a 13.6% considered Russian as the language of the future. The Arabic language comes last, with only a 4.2% of the sample supporting its widespread use in the coming years. The deviations in this question ranged in about 10% in terms of gender, but that carries no significant variation changes in the final results, and proclaims China as the first choice for men (49.6) and women (39.8). However, men appear indecisive, with a percentage of 24.8%, over the percentage of women who reduced the same rate by 10 percentage points. Moving on, the percentage of those who consider Chinese to be the language of the future in Attica reached a 46.7%, while the corresponding option in the rest of Greece received a 38.8% rate. 6

Which of the following do you consider to be the language of the future? CHINESE GERMAN DK/NA RUSSIAN ARABIC 13,6% 4,2% 18,4% 43,4% 20,4% 2.1.3. Would you like to learn Chinese? Despite the fact that in the previous question concerning the language of the future the Greeks voted Chinese, the results of this question show a clear contradiction. In this question there is a significant difference between positive and negative responses. Specifically, 58.9% answered that they would not like to learn Chinese, while 39.5% responded positively. (Generally), there seems to be a convergence of views between the genders and a little deviation between the samples from Attica and province. 7

Would you like to learn Chinese? NO Yes DK/NA 1,6% 39,5% 58,9% 2.1.4. Should Chinese be taught in schools? The vast majority of our results show that Greek society is not yet ready for the introduction of Chinese language (as a foreign language) in Greek schools, despite the fact that it has been admitted how useful the Chinese language would turn out to be. The percentage who answered "no" (to the above question) corresponds to a 60.8%, while the positively responded answers reached a 35.6%. The deviation in the results between men and women in this question, on whether to introduce Chinese as a foreign language in Greek schools, is quite a big one. Specifically, 46% of men consider that it should be indeed introduced, while only a 8

29.6% of women believe that it should not. On the other hand, there is no great difference of rates in Attica (36.7%) and in the province (34.1%). The rates of 65.3% of women exceeded men s 53.1%, who believe that Chinese should not be introduced in Greek schools, as a foreign language. Should Chinese be taught in schools? 3,6% 60,8% 35,6% Yes No DN/NA 2.2. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS 2.2.1. Do you think that Chinese universities are equal to those of America and Europe? Respondents seemed to be not sure about whether the universities of China are equal to those of America and Europe (the rate was 47.9%). At the same time, the Greeks consider Chinese universities to be equivalent of the Western ones, amounting to 24% of the sample, while the remaining 28% responded negatively. Generally there seems to be a convergence of views between the sexes, on both positive and negative responses in Attica and province. 9

We conclude that this result is indicative of the ignorance of the Greek society about academic institutions of China and the booming Chinese education, which is given tremendous weight by the Chinese government, especially within the last decade. The Greeks seem to have better knowledge about the universities of the West, while many probably 'guessed' the answer, choosing "Yes", only based on the overall development of China and the its global recognition as an influential force. Do you think that Chinese universities are equal to those in America and Europe? Yes No DN/NA 48% 24% 28% 2.2.2. Do you believe that the ancient Greek and the ancient Chinese culture have common characteristics? A 38.2% believes that the ancient Greek culture has a lot in common with the ancient Chinese one. Men s positive responses in this answer are more than those of women s (45.1% for men and 34.2% for women). However, there are more people in province who feel that there are similarities in the two cultures, in relation to those in Attica. Moreover, the overall percentage of positive answers lies to 22.7%, while the negative is 12.6%. Finally, the percentage of undecided voters is 7.4%. 10

Adding the percentage of responses that are or tend towards the positive answer, we see that more than half of the sample knows about the common elements of the two great civilizations of antiquity, remarkable statistically, and not much expected. At this point, it is worth noting that despite the minimal interaction that the two cultures had in ancient times, common features are observed both in mythology and folklore, and in the intellectual and cultural currents that were generated by the two countries and their intellectual production. Do you believe that the ancient Greek and the ancient Chinese culture have things in common? YES PROBABLY YES NO PROBABLY NOT DK/NA 12,6% 7,4% 38,2% 19,1% 22,7% 2.2.3. Taiwan: Is it an independent State, does it belong to China or is it something «intermediate»? The next question has to do with whether the Greeks consider Taiwan an independent state, if they believe that the area belongs to China, or if it s happening something in between. In 1949, Taiwan or else the Republic of China declared its self an independent state and has since been recognized by 22 countries. China does not officially recognize Taiwan as an independent country. The Republic of China / Taiwan meets all the requirements of an independent state as stipulated by the UN Charter. The poll showed that 10 % of respondents believe that Taiwan belongs to China, 45% believe that Taiwan is an independent state, 20% believes that it is of an 11

intermediate state and 25% said that they did not know. 30% of women did not know the answer or did not want to answer, while the corresponding figure for men was 15%. The age groups of 34-45 and 18-24 showed mostly ignorance. We noticed that one in two Greeks does not know whether Taiwan is an independent state or whether it belongs to China, so we concluded that the Greeks do not have sufficient information on this topic or that this does not fall within their immediate interests. At this point it goes without saying that the Taiwan question touches upon a very important issue for Greece, meaning the case of the occupation of Northern Cyprus and the Turkish population in the territory. So if China decides to recognize Taiwan as an independent state or not directly affect Greece, and would likely legalize the secession of Northern Cyprus. The query result is not surprising since in previous surveys, the same epistemic uncertainty in the cognitive background of the Greeks regarding the status of Taiwan was (being) observed; with a rate of 61% (2008) considering that Taiwan is an independent state. Also in a previous question about whether the status of Taiwan affects the status of Northern Cyprus, negative responses amounted to 72,4%, meaning that the two schemes are unrelated. It seems that the average Greek ignores China's stance for Greece on this matter, which is explained as a lack of information from the media and the government, and a reduced interest of Greek international developments. 12

Taiwan: Is it an independent state, does it belong to China, or is it something ''intermediate''? 24,9% 10% Belongs to China It is independent 20% 45% It is intermediate DK/NA 2.2.4. What is China s official name? This question indicates whether the Greeks were aware of such simple yet so important information about a country. We saw that the majority (71.5%) answered correctly: People s Republic of China, while an 8.1% responded that the official name is "China», 4.5% responded Republic of China, and only 1.9% Chinese Republic. A fairly large percentage, 13.9% said they did not know. We believe that almost three out of 10 respondents did not know the exact name of the country. The percentage of women who did not know the answer is 17.5% and 8% of men. Also, the percentage of men who gave the correct answer to the question rose to 77.9%, while for women at 67.9%. 13

What is China's official name? 8,1% 13,9% 1,9% CHINESE REPUBLIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 4,5% REPUBLIC OF CHINA CHINA 71,5% DK/NA 2.3. QUESTIONS OF ECONOMIC NATURE 2.3.1. What do you believe to be China s economic growth due to? In the above question, the majority of Greeks (38.5%) who took part in the survey believe China s economic growth is mainly due to the diligence of its people. The second most prevalent choice (24.6%), according to the answers of our respondents, is the Chinese economic miracle is due to China s large population. Technology scored an 18.1 %, while major investments and 11.7%. Finally, approximately 7.1% of the sample did not know the answer, or did not want to answer. Respondents of both sexes seem to 14

identify their views on the first two factors of economic growth, while their answers do not indicate a deviation larger than 1%. In contrast, larger deviations indicate factors of investment (men: 15%, women: 9.7%) and technology (men: 13.3%, women: 20%). China's economic growth is in fact a combination of all the factors raised as options during the survey, and some additional factors, which could not be put as options, in order for the survey to be brief (egg particularities of Chinese society). However, the results show the Greeks believe industriousness is a factor of economic development of a state in general, and the work diligence of Chinese people in particular. What do you believe to be China's economic growth due to? LARGE POPULATION DILIGENCE INVESTMENTS TECHNOLOGY DK/NA 22,8% 6,1% 24,6% 13,3% 38,5% 2.3.2. Do you consider the Chinese products to be reliable? The vast majority of the sample answered no (at a rate of 46.6%), while the percentage of women who answered negatively amounted to a 51.0%, and of men 38.9%. The Greek point of view, being that the Chinese products are not reliable, is differentiated by approximately 8% between responses in Attica (43.9%) and the rest of Greece (50.4%). Then, concerning the results on the credibility of Chinese products, the Greeks are still cautious, answering " probably not " at a percentage of 23.6 % with deviations of about three (3) percentage points between men (25.7%) and women (22,4%). The Greeks answered 15

«probably yes» to the credibility of Chinese products by 21.7%, while absolutely yes amounts to a rate of about 6.5 %. It should be noted that a similar survey was conducted in the course " The society and foreign policy of China," by students during the fall semester of the academic year 2009-2010, where the overall picture of the Greek society regarding the reliability of Chinese products does not seem to have changed substantially. The results of both polls prevailing negative responses (2013, No : 46.6% / Probably not : 23.7%, 2009, No : 62.9% ), have a huge difference from their respective positive answers. In short, we can conclude that the Greeks are not so happy with the Chinese products. The causes of this discontent perhaps could be found outside the quality and financial area, since, due to their low prices, consumers prefer them against local products and businesses. Therefore, we come to the conclusion that there are at least two components that shaped this outcome. 16

50,0 45,0 40,0 35,0 30,0 25,0 20,0 15,0 10,0 5,0 0,0 Do you consider the Chinese products to be reliable? 6,5 21,7 23,6 46,6 YES PROBABLY YES PROBABLY NOT NO DK/NA 1,6 2.3.3. Do you believe that Greece should develop more economic relations with China? In this question, we noticed that over 80% of the sample believes that China is one of the factors that can help Greece financially. Only 9.4% responded negatively and 7.1% did not answer. The ages who responded positively to the above question were 17

those between 18-34 and 44-64 with an 81% to 87%, while between the ages of 35-44 it is 10 percentage points lower (71%). In previous polls, the affirmative answers on whether China could help Greece financially in case Greece would need it, ranged from 54% ( 2008 ),to 46.6% (2009 ) and to 41.5% ( 2010 ), so it is certain that the percentage of Greeks who seek such cooperation is very high. China is already an important trade partner of Greece. More specifically, in 2010 8.4% of Greece's imports came from China with a value of 2.464 billion Euros. Do you believe that Greece should develop more economic relations with China? YES NO DK/NA 9% 7% 84% 2.3.4. Do you consider pollution in China to affect the environment on a global scale? Concerning the question Do you consider pollution in China to affect the environment on a global scale? we observe that 70% of the people agree that pollution in China does affect the global environment, 16.5% somewhat agrees to that opinion, while 18

only 4.9% and 3.9% answered maybe no or no respectively. The percentage of people who refused to answer is also considerably low, namely 5.2%. In 2010 74.7% of the participants gave a positive answer to the same question. It is thus evident that the Greeks recognize the fact that China has been industrialized to such a point, as to be able to affect the environment on a global scale. Do you consider pollution in China to affect the environment on a global scale? 16% 4% 5% 5% 70% YES PROBABLY YES PROBABLY NOT NO DK/NA 2.4. Questions on China s foreign policy 2.4.1. Do you consider China to be the next world superpower? Concerning the question Do you consider China to be the next world superpower? we observe a slight consensus in the answers, as 77% of the participants answered positively. More specifically, 45.6% answered yes, 32.4% had some reservations ( maybe yes ), 11.7% gave a negative answer, and a 6.8% answered 19

negatively with reservations. We see that Greeks recognize China s rapid economic rise, to such an extent that they believe China could even surpass the US. We also notice a gap here, namely between provincial areas and Attica. The percentage of people that think of China as the next superpower reaches 56.6% in the countryside, while in Attica it is 37.8%. Comparing these results to the ones from previous polls, we observe that the Greek opinion on that issue has been quite stable. The same question was asked in 2010, too and 69.9% of the people had answered that China is a future world superpower. It is really interesting to juxtapose the aforementioned opinion with the results from question 7, i.e. the fact that 70% of the participants consider Chinese products untrustworthy. It is remarkable that in previous polls, 52% in 2008, and 58.2% of the participants in 2009 considered China s economic rise to be a positive event. Do you consider China to be the next world superpower? YES PROBABLY YES PROBABLY NOT NO DK/NA 7% 12% 4% 45% 32% 2.4.2. Which country do you consider to be friendlier towards Greece: Russia, the US, France, China, or Germany? The next question was Which country do you consider to be friendlier towards Greece: Russia, the US, France, China, or Germany? Russia scores first, concentrating 40% of the participants preference. Quite importantly, the percentage of people in Greek 20

rural areas believing Russia to be friendlier is 45.7%, while in Attica 34.4%. Furthermore, younger ages were more enthusiastic towards Russia, supporting it with a percentage between 41-50%, in contrast to older people (28-34%). China scores second (17.2%), France, a traditional ally of Greece is third with 16.8%, the US score fourth (11%), and Germany fifth with 2.6%. A 13.3% of the participants were undecided. Finally, it was mostly the elderly that refused to answer (21-25%). A clear preference towards Russia is observed. It is apparent that Greeks don t consider China to be their main ally, but they aren t indifferent either. From the comments collected during the poll we conclude that China is considered to be a country far away, culturally different, without any particular bonds with Greece, yet with a strong emerging economy. Russia on the other hand is closer to Greece compared to China, has vested interests in the region, shares religion with Greece, and year by year regains more and more power. With a second look on the preference of Russia in the poll, it seems Greeks recognize that these two countries are connected with strong bonds of friendship, and share inter alia same spiritual and cultural values, together with a common historical and religious background. The year 2013 marked the 182nd anniversary of Greek-Russian bilateral diplomatic relations. Additionally, we should mention that in 2009 s opinion poll Russia was among the first countries in participants preference. The same question was asked in previous opinion polls, too, and it s interesting to observe the trend of the Greek public opinion on that issue. France scored first with 49.9% in 2008 and 41.5% in 2009. The US was stabilized between 7.6% and 12.5%. A sharp rise was recorded concerning Russia s percentages, from 28.7% in 2008 to 32.1% in 2009, and 48.1% in 2010. The course of Chinese percentages started at 9.4% for 2008, 15.6% for 2009, 26.2% for 2010, and 17.2% for the present year. China s rise in the estimation of the Greeks can be attributed to the activity of Chinese giant Cosco in the port Piraeus since 2008. Nevertheless, it seems that 5 out of 6 Greeks considers China quite a friendly country towards Greece. 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 21

France 49,9% 41,5% 17% 18,4% 16,8% Russia 28,7% 32,1% 48,4% 37% 33,5% 39,2% China 9,4% 15,6% 26,2% 24% 22,3% 17,2% USA 1% 7,6% 12,9% 7% 6% 11% Germany 4,3% 2% 1,6% 2,6% Which country do you consider to be friendlier towards Greece? Russia, Germany, China, France or USA? Russia 11% 13% 39% Germany China 17% 17% France USA 3% DK/NA 2.4.3. How would you describe China s system of government? When asked How would you describe China s system of government? 1.6% answered that they consider China to be a democratic country, 46.6% answered it is 22

absolutist, 27.5% thought of it as something in between these two, 11% answered people s government, while 13.3% of the participants refused to answer. According to the data above, the perception of China as an authoritarian or quasiauthoritarian state dominates the Greek public opinion. The preference of the 35-44 and 55-64 age groups towards the designation absolutist was almost 20% higher than the one of the 18-34 age group. Finally we observe a high ignorance rate, rising as high as 22% in the 18-34 and 55+ age groups. How would you describe China's system of government? 2% DEMOCRATIC 11% 13% 27% 47% ABSOLUTIST SOMETHING IN BETWEEN PEOPLE'S GOVERNMENT DK/NA 3. How do the Chinese view the world? China s international image and influence 23

The data above concern a recent opinion poll carried out on behalf of the Chinese English-speaking newspaper Global Times, via phone calls on a sample of 1.512 people residing in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, Shenyang and Changsha, last December, and published on 31/12/2013. The poll shows that Chinese people think of China as a powerful state, possessing significant power in regional politics, yet still not a superpower. More specifically, the results to the question about whether the Chinese military power has reached superpower levels reveal a 3.8% reduction. A 7.8% reduction is also observed in the results of the question on China s cultural influence, compared to previous polls. Furthermore, it is evident from the answers that people with a lower education level tend to be more receptive to the idea of China as a superpower, while people with higher education degrees seem to disagree. Chinese people seem to fully perceive the position their country holds in the world, after the impressive economic boom it has been experiencing during the last years. The fact that 51% of them acknowledges that China, as a matter of economic power, has reached the status of a superpower testifies to the argument above. The same survey observes that this percentage is 2% higher compared to an earlier poll. 57% of the participants claim that the corruption of their political system is one of the factors that tarnish China s image abroad. They also mentioned two other factors which contribute to this, namely environmental pollution and the low quality of Chinese products. Taking the elements above into consideration, we understand that the Chinese are quite realistic about the position of their country in the world, and the factors that spoil its international image as well. They also appear unafraid of criticizing state corruption (the number one factor named to affect negatively the country s image). China and the importance of bilateral relations with other states The same survey mentions the Chinese citizens opinion about China s bilateral relations with the US, describing them as of utmost importance and influence for China. 24

Second come bilateral relations with neighboring Japan. These results appear to remain constantly stable since 2006, and indicate a Chinese preference in maintaining strong ties with the aforementioned partners. Answering a similar question about China s relations with its neighboring states themselves, 62% considered Sino-Russian relations as the most important for China, while a percentage of 36.5% went for Sino-Japanese relations. In comparison with 2012 data, the year 2013 witnessed a dramatic rise of the importance of Sino-Russian relations. Respectively, China s relations with the Korean peninsula came third, surpassing the relations with Southeast Asian countries. Finally there are many who hold that China has the greatest potential among the BRIC states. Russia and India came second and third respectively, according to the results. These results are considered to be predictable and reasonable in their majority, taking into account the fact that the importance of Chinese relations with other superpowers like the US comes first in people s opinions. We see that the Chinese want to pursue better and closer ties with their neighbors, rendering the countries directly adjacent to China (e.g. Japan, Korea and Russia) important partners in global affairs. Let us not forget though that in order for an honest cooperation and trust to exist, China s territorial claims over its neighbors have to be addressed first. 4. Conclusions The conclusions drawn from the present survey are quite interesting. Some of them were expected, whereas some others were surprising. 25

The opinion poll in hand is more about the awareness level of the Greeks over modern China than China s history and past. In previous surveys it was apparent that Greeks and especially older members of the population know more about the country s history. In response to a question on history, 60% of the citizens tend to believe that the ancient Chinese civilization has things in common with the ancient Greek one. Moving on to more contemporary conclusions, we observe that more than half of our sample (65%) would like to visit China, while 40% considers Chinese to be the language of the future. Nevertheless, 60% of the participants would not wish to learn Chinese, nor Chinese to be taught at Greek schools. Additionally one out of two Greeks does not know the level of higher education in China, whereas a 20% considers it to be equal with the Western standards. 71% of the people know China s full official name, with only 15% claiming ignorance. Almost 50% of the participants think of China s political system as absolutist, while 20% of them describe it as something between authoritarianism and democracy. We thus conclude that the Greeks are not negatively disposed towards China. They aren t disturbed by the cultural contacts between Greece and China, but they wish to keep a safe distance. The latter could be explained by the different political systems the two countries have. Greeks possibly believe that the two civilizations used to have some contacts in the antiquity, but the centuries that have passed since then have created such great differences between them, that there could hardly be any communication between individuals. Concerning economic interactions between the two nations, we notice that Greeks are not just open to economic cooperation proposals, but they also want to further deepen such a cooperation, since -as shown in earlier polls- they consider China to be a factor that could help Greece get through the crisis. 83% of the sample wishes for more economic relations with China. Greece recognizes China s rapid development. 40% of them holds diligence and industriousness to be the most important factor of that development, while the size of China s population comes second. However, almost 50% of the participants consider Chinese products are not trustworthy. 26

According to 17.2% of the respondents, China is the second friendliest country to Greece, among the US, Russia, France, and Germany. It looks like Greeks think China has vested interest in the region, which Beijing s government might support and pursue. A last conclusion drawn from the survey is the ignorance of Greece s population concerning the status of Taiwan and its connection to the Greek foreign policy. 45% think Taiwan is an independent state. We propose that future opinion polls on China avoid questions of historical context, and focus more on today s reality, and especially on Greek citizens perception about the relations between: China and the environment, China and the US, China and Russia. Bibliography 1) Kappa Research. 27

2) http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/835066.shtml#.usxfvprdvry 3) http://atlas.media.mit.edu/country/grc/ 4)http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/6-13022012-AP/EN/6-13022012-AP-EN.PDF 28