David Rising and Ken Moritsugu
Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) — Americans increasingly see China as a world superpower and threat, even as they see it more as a competitor, according to a survey released April 28. not the enemy.
Negative views of China have reached new highs, with 82 percent of Americans seeing China as either somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable, up 6 percentage points from last year, according to the Washington-based Pew Research Center.
About two-thirds of American adults say China’s influence in the world is growing, and two-thirds also see China’s power and influence as a significant threat to the United States.
Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents who see China as an enemy has fallen since January. Currently, 62% of Americans see China as a competitor and 25% as an enemy, compared with 54% who chose a competitor in January and 35% as an enemy—nearly the same as last year.
This shift may be a temporary one affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Laura Silver, a senior fellow at Pew, said the war may well have changed the way people define an enemy rather than a competitor.
The survey of 3,581 people was conducted from March 21 to 27, about a month after the Russian invasion. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.
The opposite shift is happening among Americans who call Russia an enemy. About 70 percent of Americans now see Russia as an enemy, up from 41 percent in January, Pew said.
“With the clearer realization that what Russia is doing has classified it as an ‘enemy,’ there has been a corresponding shift in the idea that China is more of a competitor,” Silver said.
On an official level, however, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called China a major long-term challenge for the U.S. military, and since President Joe Biden begins his term in January 2021, U.S.-China relations have become stronger on many levels. nervous.
Biden has been paying more attention to the Indo-Pacific region and has repeatedly criticized China’s military provocations against Taiwan, human rights violations against ethnic minorities and efforts to suppress Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists. U.S. officials have also expressed concern over signs that China is increasing the size of its nuclear arsenal, although it is still far smaller than the U.S.
With China so far refusing to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, Beijing’s partnership with Moscow is seen as the most serious problem for the United States, cited by 62 percent of respondents.
In contrast, only 35% see tensions between China and Taiwan as a very serious issue, and 42% see mainland China’s Hong Kong policy as a very serious issue.U.S.
Changes in news coverage and global events could affect how Americans view China, Silver said, noting that human rights were a bigger issue last year.
“Negative perceptions of China have been high and increasing for much of the past four years, but it appears that the most prominent factors have subsided,” Silver said.
