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SYDNEY – Most Australians are wary that China could pose a military threat to the country in the next two decades, according to the latest poll by a respected research organization. The Lowy Institute survey indicates Australians’ attitudes toward China have warmed slightly over the last 12 months but that suspicions remain.

The annual Lowy Institute poll has highlighted Australia’s complex and often contradictory relationship with China, its biggest trading partner.

Results from the latest survey, published Tuesday, indicate Australians have warmed slightly to China over the past year and that a majority are pleased to see high-level political dialogue resume between Canberra and Beijing.

However, Australians’ confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping remains low. The poll found 75% of respondents believe that Beijing could pose a military threat to Australia.

Bilateral relations have improved since the May 2022 election of a left-leaning government in Canberra.

Ryan Neelam, director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that while relations between Beijing and Canberra have stabilized, there are still high levels of suspicion in Australia.

“When we look at the military threat that Australians perceive over the next two decades three-quarters of Australians still see it likely that China will pose a military threat to Australia,” he said. “So, it is a leveling off in the decline but there is still a lot of wariness there and there is still a lot of mistrust in how Australians look towards China and its leader.”

China accounts for more than a quarter of Australia’s foreign trade.

Australia’s trade with China is worth more than the combined value of its business dealings with Japan, the United States and South Korea.

However, in recent years relations between Canberra and Beijing have been soured by political tensions over human rights, the South China Sea and the origins of COVID-19.

Diplomatic disagreements were followed by trade disputes, but China has now begun to dismantle restrictions that had been placed on a range of Australian commodities, including coal and timber.

The Lowy Institute survey has found that Australia’s attitudes toward the United States have remained mostly steady. Eighty-two percent of those polled said the decades-old U.S. alliance remained important to Australia’s security. Three-quarters of respondents supported providing military aid to Ukraine.

The latest Lowy Institute Poll surveyed the views of 2,077 Australian adults in March.