The number of Americans with a negative opinion of China has reached a new high, with more than 90% of adults saying that the Asian country’s partnership with Russia is a problem for the United States, revealed a poll released on Thursday (28). ) by the Pew Research Center.
Two-thirds of 3,581 respondents to the survey in March described China as a major threat — up 5 percentage points from 2020 and 23 points since the question was first asked in 2013, US-based Pew reported. USA.
The number of Americans who have unfavorable views of China rose 6 points from 2021 to 82%, a new high.
“Americans are deeply concerned about the partnership between China and Russia,” says Pew, after 92% of respondents said they considered this proximity to be at least a little serious problem for the US — 62% said it was “a problem very serious”.
The poll also showed that a growing number of Americans – 43% – see China as the world’s biggest economy, up 11 percentage points since 2020, matching those who see the United States as a leader.
Republicans tend to have a more negative view of China than Democrats and are more likely to support tough economic measures against Beijing, the study shows.
Unfavorable views of China in the United States and many other advanced economies have grown in recent years, with Western governments complaining that the increasingly powerful country uses economic and military coercion to exert its will across the world.
China and Russia have also developed closer ties, including announcing a “no-holds-barred” partnership in February, just weeks before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which Beijing has yet to condemn.
US-China relations have deteriorated sharply in recent years, and US President Joe Biden has vowed that Beijing will not replace the country under his command as the world’s global leader.
The Biden administration said China would face serious consequences if it gave material support to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, but added that it saw no evidence of that.
China has blamed US politicians, media and think tanks for shaping a negative perception of the country among Americans.
“Following unscrupulous and shameless attacks by some US politicians on China, some US media spread rumors and some US think tanks defamed China,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a statement. a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.
