More Americans see China as biggest threat to US

WASHINGTON - A growing number of Americans perceive China, rather than Iran or Russia, as the biggest threat to the United States.

About one in four Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Centre recently said that China posed "the greatest danger" to their country, significantly higher than the 16 per cent for Iran, 13 per cent for North Korea, and 3 per cent for Russia.

The trend is also nearing an 11-year high not seen since September 2001, when 32 per cent of Americans, according to Pew, said China was the top threat. That spike was registered in the aftermath of a mid-air collision between an American spy plane and a Chinese military jet off the coast of southern Hainan province in April that year.

The latest increase in anti-Chinese sentiment is far more gradual, and stems more from economic rather than military-related concerns - a reflection of how the recent devastating recession has sapped America's economic confidence.