Survey: China viewed more favorably than US in much of world

China is now viewed more favorably than the United States across most of the countries and territories surveyed by the Pew Research Center, according to a report the organization released on Wednesday.

China received higher favorability ratings than the US in 27 of 36 countries and territories examined, including the US' nearest neighbors — Canada and Mexico — and its allies, such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

By contrast, the US was viewed more positively in only nine countries, including India, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. The gap is especially large in several Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern countries.

Pew said the findings were based on interviews with 42,151 adults conducted from Feb 8 to May 13 in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The center said the results marked a recent reversal because people in these countries and territories had previously viewed the US more positively than China.

Pew's report examined how respondents in 17 middle-income countries viewed the foreign-policy roles of China and the US. It found that a median of 75 percent said the US interfered in other countries' affairs, compared with 45 percent who said the same about China. In nearly every place surveyed, more people see the US as an interferer than China, the report said.

Similarly, people in many of these middle-income countries see China as a more reliable partner than the US and are more likely to say China contributes to peace and stability around the world.

For example, survey data show 72 percent of respondents in South Africa view China as a reliable partner, compared with 46 percent who said the same of the US. The disparity is even more pronounced in Pakistan, where 84 percent view China as a reliable partner, compared with only 36 percent who said the same of the US.

Across Latin America, the survey found that views of China are also more positive than views of the US, due largely to worsening views of the US. The views of the US have grown more negative over the last year in five of six Latin American countries surveyed, while the views of China have mostly held steady.

Overall ratings for the United States are also largely negative. Favorable views of the country have declined in many places over the past year, including double-digit drops in Indonesia, Italy, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.

The share of the public who considers the US a reliable partner has declined steeply in many countries since Pew last asked this question in 2022. For example, in Canada, 83 percent described the US as a reliable partner in 2022, compared with 35 percent this year.

Similarly, the share who think the US takes into account the interests of other countries when making foreign policy decisions has declined in most places surveyed.

For instance, three years ago 60 percent of Germans said the US considers other countries' interests, but that share dropped to 23 percent this year.

A median of 35 percent say the US contributes to peace and stability around the world.

Among 20 countries surveyed annually since 2023, the median share expressing a favorable opinion of the US fell from 58 percent to 36 percent by 2026, the report said. It said China's median favorable rating rose from 32 percent to 46 percent over the same period.

The center said views of the US worsened after Trump's second term began, while China's image continued to recover over the past years. It attributed China's relative position to both improving opinions of China and deteriorating opinions of the US.

Reacting to a Washington Post article covering the survey, a reader, Luther Mahoney, commented, "Of course China has become more popular. It hasn't attacked or threatened anyone — certainly not Iran, Greenland, Cuba, Venezuela, Gaza, or others — in the past year."

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com