US-China ties most important: survey

A survey by UK-based consulting company YouGov released on Tuesday showed that Americans think that China is the country with which it is most important the US maintain friendly relations, followed by Japan and South Korea.

About 42 percent of some 1,000 respondents believed that out of China, Japan and South Korea, it is most important that the US maintains friendly relations with China, with 25 percent choosing Japan and 12 percent South Korea.

But the preference is likely due to China's growing power rather than a perception of China as a friend of the US.