A new poll published by Fox News has revealed a significant decline in the percentage of young Americans who view China as a major threat to their country compared to older age groups, highlighting one of the most prominent generational divisions within American society today. Data from the survey, conducted by the Ronald Reagan Summer Institute, showed that younger generations have far fewer fears than older people.

Digital comparisons reflect inequality

Statistics show a sharp disparity in the level of concern about Beijing, with 93% of Americans aged 65 and over expressing serious concern about China's ability to spy on the United States, while this percentage dropped to just 62% among the 18- to 29-year-olds.

Younger Americans were less concerned about China's possible use of force against Taiwan (56% vs. 86% for older people), technology theft (61% vs. 91%), the issue of buying U.S. land (68% vs. 93%), and Beijing's role in fentanyl smuggling (68% vs. 92%>

Indicators of national concern

Public concern about China remained high nationally despite this age disparity, with more than 80% of Americans expressing shared concerns about fentanyl smuggling, digital espionage, and land purchases.

At the same time, 66 percent of respondents said that maintaining Taiwan's security is a vital interest of the United States. The readings come at a delicate time when Washington and Beijing are scrambling to find a formula for stabilizing their bilateral relations, which have been strained for years at the military and economic levels.

Trump's Turn and Presidential Diplomacy

U.S. President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in May, announcing a series of mutual trade and investment agreements and pledging to continue the language of dialogue. The move came after Trump imposed heavy tariffs on Chinese exports at the start of his term. Following the conclusion of the Beijing summit, Trump called the Chinese president a "great leader" and China a "great country," stressing to reporters: "We have solved many different problems that no one else could have solved."

American Generational Contradiction

These emerging youthful trends run counter to the traditional view of many U.S. national security experts and analysts, who still insist on designating China as the United States' greatest competitor and strategic adversary in the long term.

In this context, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, during his recent participation in the Shangri-La Security Dialogue in Singapore, explained that "there is justifiable concern about China's unprecedented military expansion and the expansion of its activities in the region and beyond," adding that official relations between the two countries are currently "better than they have been for many years."

Supportive polls, including the Carnegie poll, suggest deeper shifts in Generation Z's political outlook toward U.S. foreign policy, with young Americans less motivated than older Americans to focus on maintaining America's absolute technological superiority over China, while generally favoring a less expansive U.S. leadership role and intervention in foreign crises around the world.