The latest Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples survey reveals that New Zealanders feel closer to Asia compared to five years ago. This year's survey also includes two mini polls – one looking at how the Christchurch terror attacks impacted New Zealanders' perceptions of Asia and the other conducted following the onset of COVID-19 to see how the new coronavirus might have changed attitudes.
Two out of three believe it is important New Zealand continues to develop ties with Asia; and self-assessed knowledge of Asia is improving year-on-year. By January 2020, the mystery virus that became known as COVID-19 had grown to become arguably the biggest global event the Foundation had seen in its 26-year history. In March 2020, we asked Colmar Brunton to carry out a mini-poll to see how the spread of COVID-19 might have affected perceptions of Asia.