More and more Chinese view the US with disfavour
About 43 per cent of respondents in an online survey perceive the United States "very” unfavourably, especially among those born after 1990. Europe is viewed more favourably, with Germany at the top with 69 per cent and the United Kingdom at the bottom with 46 per cent.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – A majority of Chinese view the United States with disfavour, this according to an online survey co-published by researchers from the National University of Singapore, Canada’s University of British Columbia and Rice University in the United States.
Based on a sample of 2,083 Chinese respondents, the study was conducted in 2020 and 2021. It shows that 43 per cent held a "very unfavourable" opinion of the United States; only 23 per cent expressed a "very” or “somehow" positive view.
The most unfavourable view was held by people born after 1990.
In a survey published in June, the Pew Research Center found that negative views of China had reached an all-time high in most of the 19 countries studied, especially the United States, especially over human rights.
Attitudes among ordinary Chinese appear to go against the timid attempts by the Chinese government to improve relations with the United States.
According to several observers, the latter is evinced by the decision to appoint Qin Gang, former ambassador to the United States, as foreign minister, and to sack "wolf warrior" Zhao Lijian, until recently Deputy Director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, relations are expected to remain frosty. The Biden administration shows no signs of ending the trade war against China nor of lifting the ban on technology transfers initiated by Donald Trump.
China’s disappointment vis-à-vis the United States, however, is not reflected in its attitude towards the rest of the Western world.
The joint study by Singaporean, Canadian and US universities found that a positive view of Europe, especially Germany (69 per cent), among Chinese.
European countries are perceived as less aggressive than the United States; in fact, the Chinese government and state media usually treat them in a friendlier way.
The one European exception is the United Kingdom, viewed favourably by only 46 per cent of respondents.
In China, the UK is often associated with the US in areas such as the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, criticism of Beijing's policies in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, and the disputes over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
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