Washington: Views of China have grown more negative in recent years across many advanced economies, and unfavorable opinion has soared over the past year, a new 14-country Pew Research Center survey shows.
Negative views of China increased most in Australia, where 81% now say they see the country unfavorably, up 24 percentage points since last year.
In the UK, around three-quarters now see the country in a negative light – up 19 points. And, in the US, negative views of China have increased nearly 20 percentage points since President Donald Trump took office, rising 13 points since just last year.
The rise in unfavorable views comes amid widespread criticism over how China has handled the coronavirus pandemic.
Across the 14 nations surveyed, a median of 61% say China has done a bad job dealing with the outbreak.
Disapproval of how China has handled the COVID-19 pandemic also colors people’s confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping.
A median of 78% say they have not too much or no confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
The survey, conducted from June 10 to Aug. 3, found that a majority in each of the countries polled had an unfavorable opinion of China. In all, 14,276 adults were polled by telephone.
Pompeo slams China at ‘Quad’ meet
Tokyo: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out at China on October 6 at a meeting here of US regional allies.
Pompeo accused China’s governing Communist Party of “exploitation, corruption and coercion”, the BBC reported.
He was meeting counterparts from Australia, India and Japan – a group known as “The Quad” – to discuss an increasingly assertive China.
Under the Donald Trump administration, relations between the US and China have plummeted to their worst in decades.
As a counter-measure, Washington has been making efforts to strengthen ties with regional allies.
China has previously made clear its disdain for the Quad grouping, and warned ahead of the meeting against “exclusive cliques” that target third parties.
