FILE – President Donald Trump talks with China’s President Xi Jinping on the Zhongnanhai management compound, Might 15, 2026, in Beijing.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
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Mark Schiefelbein/AP
WASHINGTON — The world has largely seen the U.S. extra favorably than China for years, however these opinions have flipped in Beijing’s favor this 12 months, based on a brand new ballot by the Pew Analysis Middle, a outstanding shift pushed partially by tensions between the Trump administration and U.S. allies.
Extra individuals have favorable views of China than the U.S. in 25 out of the 36 international locations and territories that have been surveyed, together with Canada and Mexico. The ballot was carried out from February to Might, a interval when the USA and Israel launched a struggle in opposition to Iran.
In solely six international locations do individuals nonetheless see the U.S. extra positively than China, based on the findings launched Wednesday.
Views in 22 out of the 36 international locations and territories are also extra favorable of Chinese language chief Xi Jinping than U.S. President Donald Trump, together with in Canada, Mexico and main European powers together with France, Germany and the U.Okay. Nevertheless, individuals in most of the international locations have low confidence in each males.
It marks the primary time within the roughly 20 years Pew has been monitoring world opinions that China has been seen extra positively than the U.S., mentioned Laura Silver, affiliate director of Pew’s International Attitudes Analysis and one of many researchers on the examine. Views of Beijing and Washington have been very comparable at some factors up to now however haven’t been considerably extra favorable for China till now, she mentioned.
The shift follows the COVID-19 pandemic changing into a distant subject and as world views of the U.S. have soured, Silver mentioned.
“There was just an actual relationship between the outbreak of the war and the sense that the U.S. is just not contributing to peace and stability and that people have less confidence in Donald Trump,” she mentioned.
Trump’s calls for to manage Greenland, the American army raid that captured Venezuela’s then-leader Nicolás Maduro, and the U.S. dealing with of the Israeli-Hamas struggle in Gaza even have led to low approval in lots of international locations, Silver mentioned.
“The U.S. has done a lot in terms of global engagement in recent months to years that is not being perceived positively internationally,” she mentioned.
Other than benefiting from the fading reminiscence of the pandemic, China seems to have gained from comparability with the U.S., Silver mentioned.
“By comparison, we know that China is seen to be a more reliable partner in many places. It’s more likely to be seen to contribute to global peace and stability,” the researcher mentioned.
Notably, these in some U.S. allied international locations have drastically shifted their views in recent times, comparable to Canada. Within the new survey, solely 33% of Canadians have optimistic views of the U.S., down from 57% in 2023. Over the identical interval, their favorable opinions of China rose from 14% to 44%.
Trump slapped a barrage of tariffs on Canadian items final 12 months, and even claimed that Canada could possibly be the “the 51st state.”
Main European international locations — together with France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy — all have switched their opinions towards the world’s two largest economies.
Individuals within the U.Okay., the place about 6 in 10 held optimistic views of the U.S. in 2023, now view China and the U.S. equally. Three years in the past, the unfold was 32 proportion factors in Washington’s favor.
Of the six international locations the place individuals have extra favorable views of the U.S., Israel leads the best way. About 8 in 10 Israelis view the U.S. positively, in contrast with 19% for China.
The opposite 5 international locations are Japan, India, South Korea, the Philippines and Poland. Nonetheless, even their views of the U.S. have dimmed over current years.
The U.S. continues to be forward of China on the subject of authorities respect for private freedoms, although the hole is shrinking, the Pew report says.
Whereas China’s standing has improved considerably, the narrowed divide is “driven largely by the fact that people in nearly every country surveyed have become less likely to say the U.S. government respects its people’s personal freedoms” since 2021, when Pew final requested the query.
For the brand new examine, Pew surveyed greater than 42,000 individuals throughout 35 international locations plus the West Financial institution and east Jerusalem, with margins of error starting from 2.3 to five.5 proportion factors relying on the nation.
