Negative views of China rise sharply in advanced democracies: Survey

Negative perceptions of China have increased sharply among persons in several advanced democracies, especially in Australia and Britain, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center released Tuesday.

The survey comes as China is engaged in multiple trade and diplomatic disputes using its neighbors and other countries, driven partly by a far more aggressive diplomatic approach.

The survey conducted in 14 democratic countries with advanced economies showed many of individuals had an unfavourable view of China. It had been conducted from June 10 to Aug 3 among 14,276 adults over the 14 countries via telephone.

In Australia, 81% said they have an unfavourable view of China, according to the survey, a growth of 24 percentage points from last year.

The rise corresponds with higher tensions in the bilateral relationship after Australia led the decision for an international investigation in to the origins of the coronavirus.

China responded on the trade front, suspending imports of Australian beef, putting high tariffs on barley from the country and starting an anti-dumping probe into imports of Australian wine.

As the survey showed Australia had the sharpest increase in negative attitudes toward China, other countries also showed an upward trend: People that have an unfavourable view toward China hit 74% in Britain, a rise of 19 percentage points compared to last year; 71% in Germany, a rise of 15 points; and 73% in the U.S., a growth of 13 points.

The 14 countries surveyed were the U.S., Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, holland, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., Australia, Japan and South Korea.

The margin of error for the survey ranged from 3.1 percentage points in South Korea to 4.2 percentage points in Belgium.

In most countries surveyed, people that have higher income levels were equally likely as people that have lower degrees of income to carry the negative views. The negative views also held across education levels, as people that have a postsecondary degree or even more were equally more likely to have unfavourable views of China as people that have less education.

Further, in nine of the surveyed countries — Spain, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the united states, UK, South Korea, Sweden and Australia — negative views have reached their highest level in the 12 or even more years that the center has been conducting the survey in those countries, according to Pew Research Center.

Many democratic countries, including those surveyed, condemned China earlier this season when it pushed through a new national security law in Hong Kong that critics say infringe on rights promised to the former British colony when it had been handed to Chinese rule.

One of the main factors in regards to to China's reputation abroad has been the coronavirus.

The virus emerged late this past year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has since spread all over the world. China has been criticised for not being fast enough in its initial response and for wanting to cover up early reports of the virus.

The survey found many held a negative view of how China has handled the coronavirus, with a median of 61% across the 14 countries saying China had handled the outbreak poorly. A lot more respondents — 84% — said the US has handled the outbreak poorly.

Those who believed China did poorly in working with the pandemic were more likely to view the united states in a poor light.

Citizens in the surveyed countries also do not trust China's leader Xi Jinping, with a median of 78% saying they do not have confidence in him to do the proper part of world affairs.

Only US President Donald Trump had a worse reputation among those surveyed, with a median of 83% saying they don't trust him.

Trump has been just about the most vocal critics of China, continuing at fault Beijing for the coronavirus while trying to play down the impact the virus has already established in the US, which includes reported the world's highest death toll from COVID-19.