Opinion on China in advanced economies sours ‘precipitously’ under Xi Jinping, Pew survey shows
- Factors behind the shift include perceptions of Beijing’s handling of Covid-19, the trade war with the US and a military build-up in the South China Sea
- The global poll also showed ‘very little confidence’ in the Chinese president’s handling of world affairs
Public opinion towards China in the United States and other advanced economies has turned “precipitously more negative” under President Xi Jinping, according to a global survey by the Pew Research Centre.
Xi, 69, is widely expected to win a precedent-breaking third five-year term as leader at a Communist Party congress that begins in Beijing on October 16, securing his status as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
While China’s economic rise and investments were seen as a positive for some Latin American, Middle Eastern and African countries, economic competition with China was seen as a “serious problem” in advanced economies like Japan, South Korea, the United States and Australia, according to Pew.
The survey, published on Wednesday, found that unfavourable views of China in developed economies had hovered in a relatively narrow band between 2002-2017, before worsening amid concerns including human rights and military power, with some of the sharpest changes between 2019 and 2020, Washington-based Pew said.
03:26
US Vice-President Kamala Harris addresses China threat as she kick-starts her Asia tour
The shift in opinion was triggered partly by perceptions of China’s handling of Covid-19, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, as well as a trade war with the United States, aggressive foreign policy and a military build-up in the South China Sea.