While acknowledging the importance of Asia for Canada’s prosperity, Canadians appear less enthusiastic to act on opportunities in the region, according the 2013 National Opinion Poll released by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

“There is a growing discrepancy between Canadians’ understanding of Asia’s importance and their willingness to do something about it,” said Yuen Pau Woo, President and CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

“More Canadians appear to be hesitating as they face tougher decisions about how to advance the Canada-Asia relationship.”

Canadians expressed cooler views towards most countries in Asia, especially China. Canadians with unfavorable or ‘cool’ feelings towards the People’s Republic of China exceeded those with favourable views by a factor of three.

A strong majority of respondents also remain opposed to direct investment from Asian state-owned enterprises, particularly from China (76%), India (72%) and Japan (58%).

Here are some of the key findings of the online survey among 3,474 Canadian adults  by Angus Reid;

■ China and Japan top the list of Asian countries Canadians feel Canada should place the greatest emphasis on in its foreign relations with the region. India and Australia occupy the second tier. Far fewer think Canada should give top attention to South Korea or Indonesia.

■ Among Asian countries, Canadians feel the greatest warmth towards Japan; it is the only country in Asia for which more Canadians hold more positive than negative views, though fewer do so than was the case 12 months ago (a 3-point drop).

■ British Columbians (39%) and northern Canadians (46%) remain those most likely to consider Canada an Asia Pacific nation; less than 1-in-5 elsewhere share this sentiment

■ Albertans feel that Canada should place the greatest emphasis on its foreign relations with China. BC and Ontario, relative to other provinces, want the focus to be on India, while northern Canadians would like the greatest emphasis to be on Australia or Indonesia.

■ A majority of Canadians continue to believe that the growing importance of India as an economic power remains an opportunity for Canada rather than a threat; and they share similar views about China.

■ While a solid majority of Canadians support entering into a free trade agreement with the European Union and Japan, public opinion is very divided on pursuing these agreements with South Korea, Southeast Asia, India or China. Opposition to free trade deals with China and India has increased over the past year.

■ Most Canadians do not support direct investment in Canada by state-owned foreign companies. In particular, there is opposition to deals in which companies controlled by governments in Japan, India or China would seek to buy a controlling stake in a Canadian company. There is far less resistance to state-owned companies from Great Britain or Norway.

■ A solid majority of Canadians do not agree that Canada should allow more foreign temporary workers into the country to help ease labour shortages. A majority of the Canadian population also want the Canadian government to do more to attract high level Asian professionals to Canada.

■ Canadians are opposed to their provincial government giving priority to investment from Asian countries (59% oppose). A slim majority (53%) back the idea of opening a provincial trade office in Asia.

■ More than 70% of Canadians think their provincial governments should encourage more cultural exchanges with Asia through performing arts and other exhibitions as a way of building stronger ties with Asia. Close to 6-in-10 think their province should increase the number of student exchange and university agreements between their province and Asia. And, half support the idea of teaching more about Asian history and culture in the province’s schools, up 8 points from 2012 when 42% felt it was an important provincial government action.

■ Canadians across the country strongly oppose having their province’s schools place more emphasis on teaching Asian languages.

■ While many Canadians support building pipelines to transport natural gas or crude oil to ports on Canada’s west coast for export to Asia, a sizable minority oppose the idea. There is a lack of consensus in Canadian public opinion on allowing tankers carrying liquefied natural gas or crude oil to enter the waters off Canada’s west coast.

■ Canadian public opinion is split when it comes to giving First Nations communities a prominent role in decisions related to the development of energy resources for export to Asia.

■ A majority of Canadians agrees that promoting human rights and democracy should be a priority in Canada’s relations with Asian countries. This view is held by an increasing number of Canadians. Still, most Canadians continue to believe that Canada should get its own human rights house in order before it preaches to Asian countries to take action on human rights.

■ Canadian public opinion is fairly evenly split as to whether or not Canada should stop doing business with or in Asian countries because of human rights concerns – close to half believe human rights should trump business priorities while a slightly smaller percentage feel Canada should give priority to business.

■ Canadians’ perceptions of the human rights situation in China continue to worsen; 40% believe that human rights conditions in China are better than 10 years ago. This is the lowest number in five years, and the fourth consecutive decline since 2010.

■ There is strong support for Canada providing development assistance to Asian countries, but only if it helps foster positive change in terms of adopting democratic norms, fostering good governance, or supporting Canadian trade and investment objectives in Asia. There is less of a desire to see development aid used only to foster economic growth in Asian countries.

■ A majority of Canadians do not support the idea of Canadian official development assistance going to Asian countries with large and growing economies, even if they have a significant proportion of the world’s poor. Just 23% support giving aid to these countries. This sentiment is shared equally across all provinces.

■ A significant majority of Canadians (71%) believe that Asian countries with large and growing economies, like China and India, should themselves provide development assistance to poorer countries.

■ A solid majority of Canadians believe that outright military conflict between countries in the Asia Pacific is likely in the next 10 years. And, most view military conflicts in the region directly affecting Canadian security.

■ A solid majority of Canadians also continue to believe that China’s growing military power is a threat to the Asia Pacific region, though this is less the case than 12 months ago.

■ Views on the possibility of Asian military conflict and Canadian involvement are shared equally across all provinces. Quebeckers, however, are more adamant than those living in other provinces about Canada having a clear position on territorial disputes in Asia. They are also more likely than others to disagree that military conflicts in Asia affect Canadian security interests.

■ The vast majority of Canadians agree that Canada should do more to prevent cyber attacks that threaten the country’s security, including a majority who “strongly agree”. This sentiment is strongest among British Columbians and northern Canadians.

■ A substantial majority of the Canadian population also agree that the theft of intellectual property is a serious threat to Canadians doing businesses in Asia.