Favourable views towards China globally have surpassed those towards the United States for the first time in recent years, a change that occurred between January and late April, according to US intelligence company Morning Consult.
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By the end of May, China had an 8.8 net favourability rating, compared to -1.5 for the US – which is in stark contrast to January last year when the US rating was above 20 and China was in negative territory, Axios reported on Monday, citing exclusive data acquired from Morning Consult.
From January 1 to April 30, Morning Consult surveyed around 4,900 adults in 41 countries and tracked favourability ratings – the share of respondents with a positive view of a country minus those with a negative view. US and Chinese respondents’ views of their own country are excluded from the analysis.
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How are Chinese citizens feeling the effects of the US-China tariff war?
How are Chinese citizens feeling the effects of the US-China tariff war?
The report found that since January, the US’ standing had diminished in 38 of the 41 markets tracked, while China’s standing improved in 34 of them. Only in Russia has there been a significant improvement in views of the US since President Donald Trump took office again in January.
“This is a first since our tracking began [in October 2020], and includes many of America’s most important economic and military partners, in a clear blow to US soft power,” wrote Jason McMann, head of political intelligence at Morning Consult, in a report published last month.
During the surveyed period, 16 countries switched from pro-US to pro-China, bringing this group to 29 countries. Top movers include Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Austria and Germany. Many countries that were strongly pro-China before grew even more supportive, according to the survey.
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Only 13 of 41 countries remain in the pro-US camp – namely Argentina, Australia, the Czech Republic, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Vietnam – which spoke to “the damage to America’s reputation the past few months have wrought,” the report said, adding that even among them, around one-third were edge cases.
Several factors have contributed to the change in global sentiment, but the Trump administration’s tariff policies are among the strongest influences, according to the report.