Global views of China, Xi improve as US, Trump ratings decline: Pew

Views of China and its leader Xi Jinping have improved in many countries worldwide, while those of the US and President Donald Trump have deteriorated, according to a new survey of about two dozen countries by the Pew Research Centre.

Released Tuesday, the survey shows that international views of the two superpowers and their leaders are closer than since 2020. The results are a drastic departure from those in the past several years when the US and its leader then-President Joe Biden enjoyed more favourable international views than China and its president.

In its latest survey of 24 countries, Pew found that the US was viewed more favourably than China in eight countries, China was viewed more favourably in seven, and the two were viewed about equally in the remainder. 

 

Pew did not provide definitive explanations for the shifts, but Laura Silver, associate director of research, said it's possible that views of a country may change when those of another superpower shift.

"As the US potentially looks like a less reliable partner and people have limited confidence, for example, in Trump to lead the global economy, China may look different in some people's eyes," Silver said.

Also, China's human rights policies and its handling of the pandemic which were related to negative views of the country in the past may not weigh as much this time, she said.

A group of Democratic senators this week accused the Trump administration of ceding global influence to China by shuttering foreign aid programs, imposing tariffs on allies, cracking down on elite universities and restricting visas for international students.

In the Pew findings, 35 per cent of those in 10 high-income countries surveyed consistently including Canada, France, Germany and Italy have favourable opinions of the US, down from 51 per cent from last year.

By comparison, 32 per cent of them have positive views of China, up from last year's 23 per cent. And 24 per cent of them say they have confidence in Trump, compared with 53 per cent last year for Biden. 

Xi scored a slight improvement: 22 per cent of those in these rich countries say they have confidence in the Chinese president, up from last year's 17 per cent.

However, people in Israel have far more favourable views of the U.S. than of China: 83 per cent of Israelis like the US, compared with 33 per cent who say they have positive views of China. And 69 per cent of them say they have confidence in Trump, while only 9 per cent express confidence in Xi.

Pew surveyed more than 30,000 people across 25 countries including the US, which was excluded from the comparison from January 8 to April 26. The margins of error for each country ranged from plus or minus 2.5 to plus or minus 4.7.