Declining relevance: US actions are restructuring global perception

Until recently, worldwide views of the United States (US), the bastion of global soft power, were mostly positive in relation to authoritarian China. This year, the situation has reversed for the first time, according to a Pew Research Centre study. In 25 of the 36 countries surveyed, more respondents held a favourable view of China. The disaggregated results are eye-opening. The median percentage of people who have a more favourable opinion of China rose from 36 per cent in 2025 to 46 per cent in 2026; for the US, it dropped from 48 per cent to 36 per cent. The key differentiator is Donald Trump’s US presidency. One of the researchers of the study pointed out that there had been dips in favourable views of the US in the past — in 2008, when the Bush administration ended, and in 2017, when Mr Trump’s first term began. But even then, favourable views of China were on a par or slightly lower than the US. 

Only six countries in this year’s survey favour the US more — Israel, Poland, the Philippines, South Korea, India and Japan. Apart from India, caught up in border tensions with China, all the others are staunch allies of Washington. One notable point is the number of democracies that saw opinion swing in China’s favour. Countries with the biggest swings were Spain, Greece, Italy, Canada and Indonesia. But France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia and the United Kingdom also viewed China more favourably. Though confidence in both Mr Trump and Xi Jinping, China’s President, is generally low, in seven of the key European democracies, Mr Xi leads Mr Trump by double digits. The US’ popularity has been diminishing for some years, roughly spanning Mr Trump’s two terms. Between 2021 and 2026, the survey notes, people in almost every country have become less likely to say the US government respects people’s personal freedoms. Since 2023, the US-China favourability gap had reversed in many leading European democracies, Indonesia and Argentina. 

The survey tells a story of the receding power of the US as a global guarantor of liberal values and human rights. It was held between February and May — soon after the mass detentions by the immigration and customs enforcement peaked and the US illegally invaded Venezuela, capturing President Nicolas Maduro, and just as the US and Israel launched unprovoked attacks on Iran. Taken together with US abdication from global aid and initiatives on sustainable development, these developments may have influenced popular opinion decisively. In fact, more countries now believe China is a more reliable partner than the US (69 per cent to 49 per cent); that the US interferes in the affairs of other countries; and that the US contributes less to global peace and stability. Overall, neither country fares well in favourability ratings. For instance, the median percentage of people who trusted Mr Trump to do the right thing fell from an already low 32 per cent in 2025 to 21 per cent. The corresponding figures for Mr Xi are hardly more inspiring at 25 per cent and 31 per cent. Clearly, the world is caught between the increasingly uncertain politics of two superpowers. The outlook for geopolitical stability has never looked grimmer.