Majority of Americans say China is greatest national security threat, up 30 points in five years

The Reagan National Defense Forum is set to convene in Southern California to address key national security concerns as a growing number of Americans pinpoint China as one of the country's greatest threats. 

The forum involves a series of military leaders in attendance, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, national security experts and lawmakers. They will unpack various threats facing America – encompassing ideas like artificial intelligence, the future of warfare and military readiness. 

Reagan Presidential Foundation CEO David Trulio said Americans are witnessing the Chinese bolster their military readiness Friday as more remain concerned about growing tensions with Beijing – a seismic shift from just years prior. 

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"I think Americans are seeing that China's undergoing a huge military buildup," Trulio told "America's Newsroom." "There's been a lot of attention, appropriately, on the fact that China is engaged in an act of genocide against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. They see President Xi hosting Vladimir Putin, a man who President Biden has said is engaged in war crimes, so it's very ominous, and that's in the bigger backdrop of intellectual property theft and China's bullying behavior in the South China Sea." 

"I was just in Taiwan, and there's unrelenting coercion economically, militarily on Taiwan. And look at what's happened in Hong Kong with the national security law and the way they've cracked down on freedom. So it's very concerning. And I think the American people are seeing the Chinese Communist Party for what it is."

According to the Reagan National Defense Survey, 77% of Americans view China as an enemy, while just 15% view the nation as an ally. That number is a drastic change from 2018, when the survey found 38% of Americans viewed China as an ally, and 55% as an enemy.

A majority of Americans (51%) also view China as the greatest threat facing the nation, up from 43% last year and 21% in 2018. Meanwhile, the number of those viewing Russia as the greatest threat is falling, with just 24% viewing the nation as such, down from 31% last year following its invasion of Ukraine.

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FOX News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin, who joined Trulio on set at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., explained how Americans' mindsets have shifted on the national security concern, arguing that just one decade ago China was not the centerpiece to dialogue surrounding national security threats. 

"I've been coming out here for 10 years and when we first started coming out here, there weren't panels that were focusing on China," Griffin said. "It was focused on the Middle East, on counterterrorism. The other big change that has occurred in the last 10 years, it used to be just the defense contractors, the primes that would come out here at Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Now, all of Silicon Valley wants to be here."

"So the type of contractors and those who build the defense and innovative technologies that are going to be used in the Pacific and that are already being used in Ukraine, they are here and they recognize there's almost a sense of patriotism among them," she continued. "And you'll remember there was a time when Silicon Valley didn't want to do business with the Pentagon."

Regarding Taiwan — which the U.S. government does not recognize as an independent nation under its "One China" policy — 72% of those surveyed said they would support officially recognizing Taiwan if China were to invade. Just 15% would oppose such action.

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A plurality of 46% said they would support committing American ground troops to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion, with 35% saying they would oppose such a move.

To deter an invasion, however, 60% said they would support increasing the U.S. military presence near Taiwan, with just 25% opposed. Additionally, 55% said they would support increasing arms sales to Taiwan as a deterrent, with 28% opposed.

Despite the growing concern, Griffin noted the technological advancements made by the Department of Defense (DOD) in order to deter China and other national security threats overseas. 

"Look at what the Pentagon has done. They've launched Replicator, which is basically to field thousands of automated drones and automated technologies," she noted. "That's just in the last year since we were here at the Reagan Forum. That's what's going to be discussed here. The technologies are moving very fast and the Pentagon and Silicon Valley are trying to keep up."

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FOX News' Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.