A Pew research survey shows the majority of people in 14 countries, including the Netherlands, UK, Australia and Germany, view China in an unfavourable light. Reuters reported the unfavourable opinion has soared in the past year, with the majority saying that China has handled the COVID-19 pandemic poorly. Other countries polled include Sweden, the US, South Korea, Spain and Canada. Negative views about China have increased the most in Australia, with 81 per cent of Australians viewing China unfavourably. In the survey conducted between June 10 to August 3, 14,276 adults were polled via phone.
The survey results come as the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in China has caused over 1 million deaths worldwide. Anti-China policy has become a part of US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. China, in the last year, has faced some negative backlash from the US and other western nations for its lack of transparency about the origin of the coronavirus, its mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims, Beijing passing the national security law on Hong Kong curbing its autonomy and its activities trying to claim resources in the South China Sea.
The UK and Australia have also removed Huawei from their 5G networks following accusations by the US that China is using the technology to gain access to user data and classified information. As much as 84 per cent of the polled Americans said that China had handled the pandemic poorly. As much as 74 per cent of those polled said they had “not too much or no confidence in [Chinese President] Xi to do the right thing regarding world affairs”. And while 78 per cent of polled Germans said they had no confidence in Xi, 89 per cent said they felt the same about Trump.
