Countries united in sympathy for Ukraine even as sanctions generate mixed reactions: Blackbox poll across Australia, China, India, and Singapore
War, in the physical sense, is fundamentally divisive, but people are usually united in its denouncement. At Blackbox, we conducted a poll comprising 6,920 people across Australia, China, India, and Singapore to gauge regional public perception on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
There is widespread consensus on where sympathies lie, with 95% of Singaporeans supporting or sympathising with Ukraine, followed by 91% in India, 86% in Australia, and 71% in China.
Russia’s public image has evidently taken a beating, with 11% in Australia, 8% in China, 5% in Singapore, and 4% in India saying they had a positive perception of it. Furthermore, 82% Australians, 69% Singaporeans, 60% Indians, and 10% Chinese put the blame squarely on Russia.
But while people may collectively blame Russia for being the aggressor, it doesn’t really translate into support for ‘taking action’. On the much-debated issue of sanctions, Australians are largely supportive of the move with nearly 4 out of 5 (78%) respondents approving of it—followed by 3 out of 5 in Singapore (60%), 2 out of 5 in India (41%), and a mere 3 out of 20 (15%) in China. Interestingly, a large number of respondents across APAC chose ‘not sure’ or ‘have no opinion’ (44%), indicating hesitancy or simply ambivalence.
It is worth noting that Singapore, in line with most other countries including Australia, imposed sanctions on Russia while China and India have currently refrained from doing so.
David Black, CEO of Blackbox Research, weighed in on the findings: “The fact that there is a lot of sympathy for Ukraine demonstrates the power of social media over mainstream media. However, on the issue of not going along with Western sanctions, Indians have very mixed views whereas the Chinese either prefer to abstain from answering or possibly have insufficient information to base an answer on.”
With war comes war rhetoric, and on a somewhat reassuring note, people across all countries unanimously agreed that the possibility of the Russia-Ukraine conflict turning into something larger is low, ranging from 3 to 6%—quelling all World War 3 fears.
View the polling summary report here.
For further information on our studies, and to discover how Blackbox Research can help you uncover insights and leverage analytics for developing unique and effective strategies, write to us at connect@blackbox.com.sg.
Author: Blackbox Research Team
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