Poll finds quarter of non-Asian Americans consider Chinese-Americans a possible threat

One in four non-Asian Americans regard Chinese-Americans as a potential threat, especially related to national security, while four in 10 fear that Asian-Americans have greater allegiance to their countries of origin than to the United States, according to a poll released on Thursday.

The results from an Asian American Foundation survey come as US-China relations plummet and add to concerns in the diverse community about the ability to assimilate at a time of growing social tension.

“The poll underscores a troubling and ongoing disconnect between how Asian-Americans are perceived and how we actually experience life,” said Norman Chen, the foundation’s chief executive, citing a rising societal belief in the stereotype of the “perpetual foreigner”.

“That has real consequences for our safety, sense of belonging and pathways to prosperity in this country,” Chen added.

The foundation has conducted the “Socially Tracking of Asian Americans in the United States” (Staatus) survey since 2021 in a bid to monitor American perceptions, blunt discrimination and expand outreach.

The 4,909 survey respondents included 1,373 Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders and the rest non-Asians from a range of ethnic, racial, educational and income backgrounds. Where relevant, respondents were not asked to weigh in on their own group.

South China Morning Post