As critics around the world speculate on a new Cold War between the United States and China, the global public opinion on Chinese President Xi Jinping and Beijing’s soft power offers useful insights.
A new report released by the Washington-based think tank Pew Research Center looks at how 24 countries view China’s global role, its threat to peace and security, and its economic power.
While there is enough data on what North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific think about the deepening influence of China in world politics, the Pew study includes Africans and Latin Americans for the first time to reveal surprising contradictions.
An all-time high
The survey finds that among high-income countries, negative opinions about China stand at or near historic highs — 67 per cent of the respondents view Beijing unfavourably and an even greater majority of 71 per cent think the superpower doesn’t contribute to global peace and security. At the same time, they all acknowledge China as a growing economic superpower.
It is the middle-income countries that have a somewhat rosier attitude toward Xi, save for India, where respondents fervently expressed negative views of the neighbouring country. What’s more, Indians’ criticism of Beijing went up from 46 per cent in 2019 to 67 per cent in 2023 — a clear fallout of the 2020 Galwan Valley clash. Despite such opinions, the survey finds, more than half of the middle-income respondents acknowledged “their nation’s economy has benefited a great deal or a fair amount from Chinese investment”.
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In advanced economies such as Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Pew conducted the surveys over the phone. In emerging economies, including Argentina, India, Indonesia, Israel, and Nigeria, the study was conducted in person.
Seventy-six per cent globally believe that China does not consider other countries’ interests in its foreign policy; almost all of Sweden (93 per cent) is on the same page. In India, expectedly, public opinion has turned even more against China, with more than half the respondents saying that Beijing ignores Delhi’s interests. To those surveyed, it is of little importance that China brokered a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March 2023 and issued a 12-point proposal in February to end violence in Ukraine.
Moreover, 50 per cent of respondents in Western Europe, the US, Canada, and Asia-Pacific say that they have no confidence in Xi “at all”.
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A surprising contradiction
It is interesting to note that the latter half of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa and some Latin American nations, views the Asian superpower favourably. This, to the extent that a majority of the respondents in these countries says that Beijing considers their interests “a great deal”. Respondents in Indonesia and South Africa, too, favour Xi’s leadership.
In the US, the biggest competitor to China, negative opinions are at an all-time high. Half of the respondents say that Beijing poses the greatest threat to Washington — and here the Democrats and Republicans see eye to eye.
On a broader level, though, all the countries share two opinions. One, China has the best or above-average technological tools. And two, ironically, it’s not the world’s top economic power. The US still beats it.