Pew survey: 60% in US hold dim view of China amid trade war

Rising tensions over trade have dimmed Americans' opinions of China.

A new Pew Research Center poll finds that 60% say they have an unfavorable view of China up from 47 per cent last year to the highest proportion since Pew started asking the question 14 years ago.

The survey results being released Tuesday found that 24 per cent of Americans regard China as America's top threat for the future, the same percentage that said so of Russia.

The Trump administration and Beijing have been clashing for more than a year over allegations that China steals trade secrets, pressures foreign companies to hand over technology and unfairly subsidizes the country's own companies.

President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on USD 250 billion in Chinese goods and has said that on Sept 1, he will tax the USD 300 billion in Chinese imports that he has so far spared. In retaliation, China has imposed tariffs on USD 110 billion in US products.

Still, the poll finds that only 41% of Americans believe that China's growing economy is a bad thing for the United States, compared with 50 per cent who called it a good thing. Respondents were far more worried about China's rising military power: 81 per cent said it was bad, 11 per cent good. Half said they had no confidence in President Xi Jinping, the same as last year. In addition to being locked in a trade war with Trump, Xi has overseen a crackdown on dissent in China and a more combative foreign policy in East Asia.