The US was also perceived as handling the Covid crisis worse than China has
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
OCTOBER 12, 2020
Negative perceptions of China have soared over the past year across many advanced economies, reaching all-time highs in a number of countries including the UK, Germany and Australia, a Pew Research Center poll published last week has found. While the increasingly unfavorable view of China is driven in large part by belief that the country did not handle the coronavirus pandemic well, America came off even worse.
The survey was taken in 14 countries between June 10 and August 3, with 14,276 respondents quizzed on whether they held a positive or negative view of China, how well they thought China had done on handling the pandemic, and whether they had confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
A majority in every country held negative views on China, ranging from 86% of those in Japan and 85% in Switzerland holding this view, to 62% in Italy saying the same. The Spanish held similar views to their Mediterranean cousins, as 63% of Spaniards held a negative view.
Australia’s strongly negative view on China – 81% held this view – is notable, since the figure represents a change of heart among Australians. As recently as the last few years, the country held a majority positive view of China, a pattern which was also true of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
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