Singapore, November 14:

The policies of US president George W Bush and his administration have been destabilising for Asia with Washington seen as a bully, according to a poll released today of senior foreign business executives working in the region. Two-thirds of the 114 respondents polled by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) last week said Bush’s policies were not helping Asia. Only 10 per cent held a positive view. “Perceptions of business people in Asia toward the policies of the Bush administration in Washington are far from favorable, the bottom line is that two-thirds of the respondents felt the overall impact on Asia of US policies under president Bush has been destabilising,” PERC said.

“One of the first concerns of people in other countries, including some of the closest allies of the US, was that Washington was becoming too much of a bully in a unipolar world,” the Hong Kong-based risk consultancy said. Almost 90 per cent of respondents felt Washington’s influence in Asia was on the decline with many worried the world’s only superpower would be handicapped by its involvement in the Iraq war, PERC said. Bush’s response to the trail of destruction left by Hurricane Katrina in the southern US had also left many to question if the US was a model to look up to, according to the survey. “The US might li-ke to act like the world’s sole superpower, but its response to Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters have not impre-ssed anyone,” PERC said.