Anti-China sentiment in US continues to rise, Pew survey finds
- Nine in 10 Americans now view China as a competitor or an enemy, rather than a partner, poll suggests
- Two-thirds of respondents have ‘cold feelings’ towards Beijing, up from 46 per cent in 2018
China has a big image problem on the other side of the Pacific, with a Pew Research Centre survey suggesting that nine in 10 Americans now view it as a competitor or an enemy, rather than a partner, and a majority in favour of pressuring Beijing on human rights and economic issues.
The results dovetail with a recent sharp deterioration in relations. Some 67 per cent of respondents in the survey, released on Thursday, reported holding a “cold” feeling toward China this year, up from 46 per cent in 2018.
“I don’t know if it can get any lower,” said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
“But the fact that both Republican and Democrat administrations have framed the relationship as strategic competition and highlighted numerous threats that China has posed, it’s not surprising that more and more Americans – who are reading and hearing about this on a daily basis – are more and more concerned, and have an unfavourable view of China.”
The survey of 2,596 adults, taken in early February, was weighted to represent the US population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan preference and education.