Global views of China and Xi improve, while they decline about the US and Trump, survey says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Views of China and its leader, Xi Jinping, have improved in many countries worldwide, while those of the U.S. and President Donald Trump have deteriorated, according to a new survey of about two dozen countries by the Pew Research Center.

Released Tuesday, the survey shows that international views of the two superpowers and their leaders are closer than ever. The results are a drastic departure from those in the past several years when the U.S. and its leader — then-President Joe Biden — enjoyed more favorable international views than China and its president.

In its latest survey of 24 countries, Pew found that the U.S. was viewed more favorably than China in eight countries, China was viewed more favorably in seven, and the two were viewed about equally in the remainder.

Pew did not provide definitive explanations for the shifts, but Laura Silver, associate director of research, said it’s possible that views of a country may change when those of another superpower shift.

“As the U.S. potentially looks like a less reliable partner and people have limited confidence, for example, in Trump to lead the global economy, China may look different in some people’s eyes,” Silver said.

Also, China’s human rights policies and its handling of the pandemic — which were related to negative views of the country in the past — may not weigh as much this time, she said.

A group of Democratic senators this week accused the Trump administration of ceding global influence to China by shuttering foreign aid programs, imposing tariffs on allies, cracking down on elite universities and restricting visas for international students.

In the Pew findings, 35% of those in 10 high-income countries surveyed consistently — including Canada, France, Germany and Italy — have favorable opinions of the U.S., down from 51% from last year.

By comparison, 32% of them have positive views of China, up from last year’s 23%. And 24% of them say they have confidence in Trump, compared with 53% last year for Biden.

Xi scored a slight improvement: 22% of those in these rich countries say they have confidence in the Chinese president, up from last year’s 17%.

However, people in Israel have far more favorable views of the U.S. than of China: 83% of Israelis like the U.S., compared with 33% who say they have positive views of China. And 69% of them say they have confidence in Trump, while only 9% express confidence in Xi.

Pew surveyed more than 30,000 people across 25 countries — including the U.S., which was excluded from the comparison — from Jan. 8 to April 26. The margins of error for each country ranged from plus or minus 2.5 to plus or minus 4.7.

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AP writers Emily Swanson and Linley Sanders contributed to this report.