Views of China ‘broadly negative’ in India and Brazil, survey finds

Unfavourable perceptions of Asian giant surged by 21 percentage points in two of the biggest Brics members compared with 2019 results

Human rights concerns, China-India border dispute and coronavirus pandemic said to fuel sentiments despite Beijing’s soft-power push

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A dragon dance performed during Lunar New Year celebrations in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where cultural events meant to boost China’s standing have fallen short, according to a recent survey. Photo: AFP.

Published: 6:00am, 28 Jul 2023Updated: 8:23am, 28 Jul 2023

Negative perceptions of China have soared in India and Brazil, two of the biggest members of the Brics group, a Pew Research Centre study released on Thursday revealed.

Views of China that are “broadly negative” in both Brazil and India surged by 21 percentage points, according to the survey’s results. The increase was pegged at 5 percentage points for South Africa.

Conducted between February and April, the survey by the Washington-based think tank comprised interviews of more than 30,000 respondents across 24 countries, including 2,611 in India, 1,044 in Brazil, and 1,502 in South Africa.

Nearly half the Brazilian respondents – 48 per cent – held negative impressions of China, up from 27 per cent in 2019, the last time Pew polled middle-income nations.

Over the same period, the proportion of Indians harbouring unfavourable views of China jumped from 46 per cent in 2019 to 67 per cent. In South Africa, negative sentiment towards China rose from 35 per cent to 40 per cent.

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