Negative views of China soar in western countries, poll finds

Survey in US, UK, Australia and 11 other nations shows unfavourable opinions about Beijing regime are highest ever, Pew says

Donald Trump has accused Xi Jinping and China of failing to contain the coronavirus, leading to rising ant-China sentiment in the west. Photograph: Damir Šagolj/Reuters

Unfavourable views toward China have soared in the past year in the United States and many other advanced economies, according to a survey of 14 countries conducted by the US-based Pew Research Center.

The survey, conducted between June and August this year and released on Tuesday, found that a majority in each of the countries polled had an unfavourable opinion of China. In all, 14,276 adults

The report said perceptions of Beijing’s handling of the pandemic had coloured people’s overall views of China, with those who thought it had done a bad job much more likely to have an unfavorable view of the country.

The same applied to people’s confidence in Chinese president, Xi Jinping, with a median of 78% across the 14 countries saying they had “not too much or no confidence in Xi to do the right thing regarding world affairs”.

Even among those who rated China’s coronavirus outbreak response positively, no more than four in 10 said they trusted Xi, Pew said.