90% Chinese netizens disfavor US amid tensions, support strong retaliation against US

[beijingwalker]

90% Chinese netizens disfavor US amid tensions, support strong retaliation against US
By Yang Sheng Source: Global Times Published: 2020/8/11 0:28:40 Last Updated: 2020/8/11 17:54:19

Retaliation measures enforced by the Chinese government in response to US provocations are overwhelmingly supported by the public, and increasingly more Chinese people disfavor the US amid the recent spate of unprecedented tensions since the two countries established diplomatic ties in the late 1970s, a survey showed on Monday.

The Global Times created on Monday an online survey on its Chinese website and social media networks regarding current China-US relations. The number of participants in the survey has been recorded at 146,196 by Tuesday afternoon. The survey included six questions covering judgments of US intentions to provoke China and the approaches that the country should adopt to retaliate against the US, as well as general thoughts about the US from the perspective of a Chinese.

The survey results show that most Chinese netizens believe that the most recent sanctions implemented by the Trump administration against several Chinese officials due to the national security law for Hong Kong are only just bluffing to serve the US presidential election campaign and almost no one believes such moves are about democracy or freedom.

The US imposed sanctions on 11 officials on Friday, including Carrie Lam, chief executive of the HKSAR; Luo Huining, director of the central government's liaison office in the HKSAR; and Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council. China on Monday retaliated in sanctioning 11 US politicians and heads of US NGOs who were involved in damaging China's national security in Hong Kong.

More than 75 percent participants think that such US moves are an act of interference in China's domestic and another 20.3 percent participants believe that the Trump administration is only bluffing China to get itself reelected. Only 2.7 percent web users believe that the US is doing this to support "democracy and freedom of Hong Kong."

Chinese experts said that such results show Chinese people have overwhelmingly not been intimidated by US sanctions and provocations at all, and almost no one believes the US really cares about freedom and democracy in China, as it's all about hegemony and anxieties regarding the failing US strategy to contain China.

Following the questions, the survey asked "The US has frequently put pressure on China in recent times. What does this show about the intentions of the US?"

About 45 percent voted for "Anxiety about China's rapid development, trying to suppress further progress by China" and 51.3 percent voted for "A hegemonic mentality with anxieties over the decline of US competitiveness." Only 2.1 percent believed the US has concerns "over democracy and human rights in China."

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday that most Chinese people have a very clear understanding of the US policy toward China, and many of them share consensus on judging the US intentions behind a series of hostile provocations.

"Almost no one in China believes the US cares about democracy or human rights in our country, as the US has already proven itself to be 'a trouble maker' who destroys other nations' sovereignty and previously created a series of failed states with the excuse of 'promoting democracy and defending human rights', Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria are all examples," he said.

Such consensus among the Chinese public has also transformed into overwhelming support for the Chinese government to toughly retaliate against US provocations. But such support is based on reasonable and cool-headed thinking regarding China's most fundamental interests, rather than merely guided by nationalism and protectionism, as experts noted that Chinese society is much more mature than the US on viewing the current tensions.

More than 64.5 percent participants said they "firmly support it, as it's a matter of national dignity and fundamental interest," and 31 percent said "Yes, as China is able to strike a balance between countering provocations and opening-up."

Diao Daming, a US studies expert at Renmin University of China in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday that "this result has obviously showed that the Chinese government has absolute support from its people, and this is extremely helpful and essential for Chinese policymakers to handle the complex and intense China-US relations."

These two questions have very subtle differences as the second one mentioned opening-up, so this also reflected an existing debate among the Chinese strategist circle - should China toughly retaliate and make the US feel as much as possible, or should China remain calm and retaliate with equivalent measures, to minimize potential impacts to its own opening-up, said the Chinese observers.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday that it is a very interesting element for scholars to research, because it shows that many Chinese people are able to maintain reasonable thinking, as China has no intention to escalate the conflict.

"If we combine these two answers, we can get consensus among the public - firmly support the Chinese government to retaliate against the US with equivalent and appropriate countermeasures," Lü noted.

Li said that many Chinese understand that if China escalates the tension and hits back too hard against the US to make it feel pain, it would be harmful for China's development and opening-up, which is China's long-term fundamental interest.

"The Chinese people and government will not be used as pawns by the Trump administration to serve its reelection purpose. They know what the Trump administration wants, and they are also prepared for the worst-case scenario," he noted.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has frequently attacked the Communist Party of China (CPC) on several different occasions, but his attempts are failing in China, as most Chinese web users (96 percent) believe that the Trump administration is trying "to sow discord between the Chinese people and the CPC to destroy the unity of the country," and "help bring about a new cold war against China, and to give the US' crackdown on China an 'anti-Communist' ideological label."

Li said this also shows that the majority of Chinese people understand that a powerful and strong ruling party is a condition for China to become developed and prosperous, so the US' attempt to separate the CPC from the Chinese people is actually against the demands of the Chinese people in seeking better lives.

"The solid support toward the CPC among the Chinese populace is unshakeable despite the US' pointless and useless accusations," he noted.

US unfavorable

The last question in the survey was "Do you like the US?" Very few people voted for "Yes" (2.9 percent), and 35.9 percent voted "Never liked it."

More than 30 percent voted "Used to, but less so now" while 27 percent voted "Fond of its advanced science and technology, as well as its rule of law, but not its policies against China"

Li said with the failed handling of COVID-19 and its hostile policies against China, the US' image among Chinese is falling dramatically. "Especially for those people who used to like it and yearn for the US, they are the main victims of the Trump administration's policy to harm people-to-people exchanges between the two nations."

The bankruptcy of US soft power among the Chinese is probably the biggest failure of the US' policy toward China, said experts.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1197323.shtml

 

[TruthSeeker]

AUGUST 13, 2019
LAURA SILVER, KAT DEVLIN AND CHRISTINE HUANG

Over the past year, the United States and China have slapped a series of escalating tariffs on one another, with the U.S. now taxing more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Despite periodic, high-level meetings intended to defuse these trade tensions, results of a new Pew Research Center survey indicate Americans believe economic ties between China and the U.S. are poor. And, amid these economic concerns, unfavorable opinions of China have reached a 14-year high. Today, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of China, up from 47% in 2018 and at the highest level since Pew Research Center began asking the question.

Americans also increasingly see China as a threat. Around a quarter of Americans (24%) name China as the country or group that poses the greatest threat to the U.S. in the future, twice as many as said the same in 2007. China is tied with Russia (24%) as the country or group most cited as a threat to the U.S. The only other country to measure in the double digits is North Korea (12%).


While people are concerned about the current bilateral economic relationship and increasingly see China as a potential adversary, they do not necessarily think China’s growing economy is bad for the United States. More Americans say China’s growing economy is good for the U.S. than that it is bad (50% vs. 41%, respectively). But, when it comes to China’s increasing military strength, opinion is more uniformly critical: 81% of Americans think China’s growing military power is bad for the U.S.

Republicans and Democrats largely agree in their assessments of how China’s growing economy and military will affect the U.S. But, while both Republicans and Democrats have unfavorable views of China, Republicans’ opinions are somewhat more negative: 70% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican have an unfavorable opinion of China today, compared with 59% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

Partisans also diverge sharply when it comes to the state of current bilateral economic relations as well as their evaluations of which country has the world’s strongest economy. Republicans are more likely to say current economic ties between the United States and China are good, as well as to see the U.S. as the leading global economy. Party affiliation also colors which country or group people consider the most threatening to the U.S.: Republicans are more than twice as likely to name China as they are any other country (32%), while Democrats name China second – behind Russia – as the most threatening country (36% name Russia, 19% China).

The new survey by Pew Research Center, conducted May 13 to June 18, 2019, among 1,503 adults, also finds that older Americans tend to have more negative views of China than younger Americans. Older Americans are also more likely to be concerned about the impact of both China’s growing military and economic strength on the United States, though they are more likely to see the U.S. as the leading economic power than younger Americans.

Unfavorable opinion of China reaches new high

American opinion of China has fluctuated somewhat over time, with positive views outnumbering negative ones during President Barack Obama’s first term in office, but negative views mostly predominating since. Still, unfavorable opinion has never been higher than it is now, based on Pew Research Center’s 14 years of polling on the topic. Today, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of China, including around a quarter who have a very unfavorable opinion. This 13 percentage point increase in unfavorable opinion from 2018 to 2019 also marks the largest year-on-year change in public opinion toward China since 2005.

As has historically been the case in Pew Research Center polling, older people tend to have more negative opinions of China than younger people. About half of 18- to 29-year-olds (49%) express an unfavorable view of China, compared with 58% of those ages 30 to 49 and two-thirds of people 50 and older (67%). People with at least a four-year college degree are also more negative toward China (69%) than those who have not completed college (57%).


While unfavorable opinion of China increased among partisans of all stripes over the past year, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have become particularly negative in their evaluations of China. Seven-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners have an unfavorable opinion of China today, up from 51% in 2018. Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, unfavorable opinion increased somewhat less over the same period, from 47% to 59%.

More Americans say current U.S.-China economic ties are poor

Shifting attitudes toward China are colored, in part, by the context of the continued trade frictions and tariffs between the United States and China. Today, just over half of Americans (53%) believe current economic ties between the U.S. and China are bad. Fewer (41%) think economic relations between the two nations are good, with just 2% of American adults saying ties are very good. Partisanship is associated with views of the U.S.-China economic relationship: While 49% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents see current ties as good, around one-third (36%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents share this view. And, despite having more favorable views of China, younger Americans (ages 18 to 29) are about as likely as those 50 and older to have negative views of current economic relations with China (58% and 53%, respectively, say ties are bad).


Previous Pew Research Center work on U.S. views of China has shown that Americans often express more concern about China over economy-related issues, such as Chinese-held American debt and job loss to China. The most recent survey again reveals how Americans see China through an economic prism, one that in recent months has been clouded by bellicose discourse around trade disputes. Those in the U.S. who see economic ties with China as bad are much more likely than those who think the nations have good economic ties to have overall unfavorable views of China (71% vs. 47%).

Americans increasingly see China as a threat

Some elected officials and policymakers increasingly have been highlighting the ways in which China threatens the United States, even reviving the Committee on the Present Danger. Alongside these high-level shifts, the American public has grown more concerned about China’s future impact on the U.S. When asked to name the country or group that poses the greatest future threat to the U.S., China is one of the two most frequently named entities, with about a quarter of Americans citing the country as the greatest future threat (24%). This is a 5 percentage point increase from 2014, when 19% of Americans considered China to be the U.S.’s greatest future threat, and twice as many as said the same in 2007. Russia is the only other country named with similar frequency; another 24% of Americans consider it the country’s largest future threat this year. While largely unchanged since 2014, this marks a 12-fold increase from 2007. Over this same period, concerns about Iran and Iraq have fallen precipitously (from 24% in 2007 to 6% in 2019 for Iran, 21% to 1% for Iraq).

In 2019, China and Russia are named twice as often as the third-most mentioned country: 12% of Americans consider North Korea the greatest future threat.


But partisan differences are stark when it comes to concerns about China and Russia. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (32%) are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners (19%) to name China as the biggest threat to the U.S. in the future. Among Republicans, China is the most frequently named threat in 2019; in comparison, Democrats most frequently cite Russia as the U.S.’s greatest future threat.

A separate Pew Research Center survey conducted in July found a similar pattern, with Democrats much more likely than Republicans to view Russia’s power as a major threat to the well-being of the U.S., and Republicans modestly more likely than Democrats to say this about China. There was no partisan difference in in the shares naming China’s influence as the country’s greatest future threat in 2014.

China’s military growth, not economic growth, seen as potential problem for the U.S.

China’s navy and air force are the largest in Asia, and defense spending has risen rapidly over the past decade. Against this backdrop, a large majority of Americans (81%) say China’s growing military power is a bad thing for the U.S. Only about one-in-ten (11%) say it’s a good thing. Even among those with favorable views of China, roughly seven-in-ten (69%) view its expanding military power negatively. Nationwide, the sense that China’s growing military would be beneficial for the U.S. has remained largely unchanged over the past decade.

Across age groups, concern about China’s growing military power is highest among older Americans. Among those ages 50 and older, 84% say it is a bad thing, while 76% of those 18 to 29 say the same. Those with at least a four-year college degree are more likely than those without to view China’s growing military power negatively. There are notably no significant partisan divisions over this issue.


But even while many Americans are concerned about the potential impact of China’s military growth, they are somewhat sanguine about how China’s economic growth affects the United States. Half of Americans think China’s growing economy is a good thing for the U.S. while 41% say it’s a bad thing. When first asked in 2005, similar proportions felt the same (49% good, 40% bad). Such optimism was not always the case, though. Those saying China’s economic achievements were good for America dropped to less than 40% in 2008 and 2011. However, in 2014 these attitudes rebounded slightly.

Interestingly, roughly half of both Republicans (50%) and Democrats (51%) agree that Chinese growth is good for the U.S. This relative agreement stands in marked contrast to evaluations of the state of current bilateral economic relations, which are colored by partisanship.

Younger Americans – who are more favorable toward China overall – are also more likely than older Americans (56% vs. 47%) to see benefits to China’s growing economy. Those with at least a four-year college degree are also slightly more likely than those without to say China’s growing economy is good for the U.S.

Americans see their own country leading economically

Although China’s economy has grown consistently at above 6% for more than a decade, Americans’ views of which country – China or the U.S. – has the strongest economy have fluctuated considerably over this same period. Since 2015, however, when asked to choose between the U.S., China, Japan and the countries of the European Union as the world’s leading economic power, Americans tend to choose their own country. Today, half of Americans say the U.S. is the dominant economy, whereas roughly one-third (32%) name China – an 18 percentage point difference.

There is a stark partisan difference in how Americans evaluate the world’s top economic power. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more than three times as likely to name the U.S. as they are China (67% and 21%, respectively). In contrast, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are equally likely to name the U.S. and China (both 40%).

Younger Americans are also more likely than older Americans to say China is the leading economic power: 37% of those ages 18 to 29 name China as the leading economic power, while 27% of those 50 and older do the same. Those who say that China’s growing economy is a bad thing for the U.S. are similarly more likely to say China is the top economic power than those who say the growing economy is a good thing.


Americans have limited confidence in President Xi
On balance, Chinese President Xi Jinping receives negative ratings from the American public. Half of U.S. adults surveyed say they have little or no confidence in the Chinese leader, while 37% have at least some confidence. This is little changed from 2018 but has increased 9 percentage points since the question was first asked in 2014.


Equal shares of Democrats and Republicans (50%) say they lack confidence in the Chinese president. For Republicans, this marks increased confidence in Xi since 2014, when 65% said they had little to no confidence in him. Democratic confidence in him has remained largely unchanged over the past five years.

Fewer Americans voice confidence in Xi than say the same of leaders from other Asian nations, including Japan’s Shinzo Abe (61% confidence) and India’s Narendra Modi (42%). However, many more think Xi will do the right thing regarding world affairs than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in whom a mere 9% of Americans have confidence.

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/...na-turn-sharply-negative-amid-trade-tensions/

 

[beijingwalker]

AUGUST 13, 2019
LAURA SILVER, KAT DEVLIN AND CHRISTINE HUANG
Over the past year, the United States and China have slapped a series of escalating tariffs on one another, with the U.S. now taxing more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Despite periodic, high-level meetings intended to defuse these trade tensions, results of a new Pew Research Center survey indicate Americans believe economic ties between China and the U.S. are poor. And, amid these economic concerns, unfavorable opinions of China have reached a 14-year high. Today, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of China, up from 47% in 2018 and at the highest level since Pew Research Center began asking the question.

Americans also increasingly see China as a threat. Around a quarter of Americans (24%) name China as the country or group that poses the greatest threat to the U.S. in the future, twice as many as said the same in 2007. China is tied with Russia (24%) as the country or group most cited as a threat to the U.S. The only other country to measure in the double digits is North Korea (12%).

While people are concerned about the current bilateral economic relationship and increasingly see China as a potential adversary, they do not necessarily think China’s growing economy is bad for the United States. More Americans say China’s growing economy is good for the U.S. than that it is bad (50% vs. 41%, respectively). But, when it comes to China’s increasing military strength, opinion is more uniformly critical: 81% of Americans think China’s growing military power is bad for the U.S.

Republicans and Democrats largely agree in their assessments of how China’s growing economy and military will affect the U.S. But, while both Republicans and Democrats have unfavorable views of China, Republicans’ opinions are somewhat more negative: 70% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican have an unfavorable opinion of China today, compared with 59% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

Partisans also diverge sharply when it comes to the state of current bilateral economic relations as well as their evaluations of which country has the world’s strongest economy. Republicans are more likely to say current economic ties between the United States and China are good, as well as to see the U.S. as the leading global economy. Party affiliation also colors which country or group people consider the most threatening to the U.S.: Republicans are more than twice as likely to name China as they are any other country (32%), while Democrats name China second – behind Russia – as the most threatening country (36% name Russia, 19% China).

The new survey by Pew Research Center, conducted May 13 to June 18, 2019, among 1,503 adults, also finds that older Americans tend to have more negative views of China than younger Americans. Older Americans are also more likely to be concerned about the impact of both China’s growing military and economic strength on the United States, though they are more likely to see the U.S. as the leading economic power than younger Americans.

Unfavorable opinion of China reaches new high
American opinion of China has fluctuated somewhat over time, with positive views outnumbering negative ones during President Barack Obama’s first term in office, but negative views mostly predominating since. Still, unfavorable opinion has never been higher than it is now, based on Pew Research Center’s 14 years of polling on the topic. Today, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of China, including around a quarter who have a very unfavorable opinion. This 13 percentage point increase in unfavorable opinion from 2018 to 2019 also marks the largest year-on-year change in public opinion toward China since 2005.

As has historically been the case in Pew Research Center polling, older people tend to have more negative opinions of China than younger people. About half of 18- to 29-year-olds (49%) express an unfavorable view of China, compared with 58% of those ages 30 to 49 and two-thirds of people 50 and older (67%). People with at least a four-year college degree are also more negative toward China (69%) than those who have not completed college (57%).

While unfavorable opinion of China increased among partisans of all stripes over the past year, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have become particularly negative in their evaluations of China. Seven-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners have an unfavorable opinion of China today, up from 51% in 2018. Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, unfavorable opinion increased somewhat less over the same period, from 47% to 59%.

More Americans say current U.S.-China economic ties are poor
Shifting attitudes toward China are colored, in part, by the context of the continued trade frictions and tariffs between the United States and China. Today, just over half of Americans (53%) believe current economic ties between the U.S. and China are bad. Fewer (41%) think economic relations between the two nations are good, with just 2% of American adults saying ties are very good. Partisanship is associated with views of the U.S.-China economic relationship: While 49% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents see current ties as good, around one-third (36%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents share this view. And, despite having more favorable views of China, younger Americans (ages 18 to 29) are about as likely as those 50 and older to have negative views of current economic relations with China (58% and 53%, respectively, say ties are bad).

Previous Pew Research Center work on U.S. views of China has shown that Americans often express more concern about China over economy-related issues, such as Chinese-held American debt and job loss to China. The most recent survey again reveals how Americans see China through an economic prism, one that in recent months has been clouded by bellicose discourse around trade disputes. Those in the U.S. who see economic ties with China as bad are much more likely than those who think the nations have good economic ties to have overall unfavorable views of China (71% vs. 47%).

Americans increasingly see China as a threat
Some elected officials and policymakers increasingly have been highlighting the ways in which China threatens the United States, even reviving the Committee on the Present Danger. Alongside these high-level shifts, the American public has grown more concerned about China’s future impact on the U.S. When asked to name the country or group that poses the greatest future threat to the U.S., China is one of the two most frequently named entities, with about a quarter of Americans citing the country as the greatest future threat (24%). This is a 5 percentage point increase from 2014, when 19% of Americans considered China to be the U.S.’s greatest future threat, and twice as many as said the same in 2007. Russia is the only other country named with similar frequency; another 24% of Americans consider it the country’s largest future threat this year. While largely unchanged since 2014, this marks a 12-fold increase from 2007. Over this same period, concerns about Iran and Iraq have fallen precipitously (from 24% in 2007 to 6% in 2019 for Iran, 21% to 1% for Iraq).

In 2019, China and Russia are named twice as often as the third-most mentioned country: 12% of Americans consider North Korea the greatest future threat.

But partisan differences are stark when it comes to concerns about China and Russia. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (32%) are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners (19%) to name China as the biggest threat to the U.S. in the future. Among Republicans, China is the most frequently named threat in 2019; in comparison, Democrats most frequently cite Russia as the U.S.’s greatest future threat.

A separate Pew Research Center survey conducted in July found a similar pattern, with Democrats much more likely than Republicans to view Russia’s power as a major threat to the well-being of the U.S., and Republicans modestly more likely than Democrats to say this about China. There was no partisan difference in in the shares naming China’s influence as the country’s greatest future threat in 2014.

China’s military growth, not economic growth, seen as potential problem for the U.S.
China’s navy and air force are the largest in Asia, and defense spending has risen rapidly over the past decade. Against this backdrop, a large majority of Americans (81%) say China’s growing military power is a bad thing for the U.S. Only about one-in-ten (11%) say it’s a good thing. Even among those with favorable views of China, roughly seven-in-ten (69%) view its expanding military power negatively. Nationwide, the sense that China’s growing military would be beneficial for the U.S. has remained largely unchanged over the past decade.

Across age groups, concern about China’s growing military power is highest among older Americans. Among those ages 50 and older, 84% say it is a bad thing, while 76% of those 18 to 29 say the same. Those with at least a four-year college degree are more likely than those without to view China’s growing military power negatively. There are notably no significant partisan divisions over this issue.

But even while many Americans are concerned about the potential impact of China’s military growth, they are somewhat sanguine about how China’s economic growth affects the United States. Half of Americans think China’s growing economy is a good thing for the U.S. while 41% say it’s a bad thing. When first asked in 2005, similar proportions felt the same (49% good, 40% bad). Such optimism was not always the case, though. Those saying China’s economic achievements were good for America dropped to less than 40% in 2008 and 2011. However, in 2014 these attitudes rebounded slightly.

Interestingly, roughly half of both Republicans (50%) and Democrats (51%) agree that Chinese growth is good for the U.S. This relative agreement stands in marked contrast to evaluations of the state of current bilateral economic relations, which are colored by partisanship.

Younger Americans – who are more favorable toward China overall – are also more likely than older Americans (56% vs. 47%) to see benefits to China’s growing economy. Those with at least a four-year college degree are also slightly more likely than those without to say China’s growing economy is good for the U.S.

Americans see their own country leading economically
Although China’s economy has grown consistently at above 6% for more than a decade, Americans’ views of which country – China or the U.S. – has the strongest economy have fluctuated considerably over this same period. Since 2015, however, when asked to choose between the U.S., China, Japan and the countries of the European Union as the world’s leading economic power, Americans tend to choose their own country. Today, half of Americans say the U.S. is the dominant economy, whereas roughly one-third (32%) name China – an 18 percentage point difference.

There is a stark partisan difference in how Americans evaluate the world’s top economic power. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more than three times as likely to name the U.S. as they are China (67% and 21%, respectively). In contrast, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are equally likely to name the U.S. and China (both 40%).

Younger Americans are also more likely than older Americans to say China is the leading economic power: 37% of those ages 18 to 29 name China as the leading economic power, while 27% of those 50 and older do the same. Those who say that China’s growing economy is a bad thing for the U.S. are similarly more likely to say China is the top economic power than those who say the growing economy is a good thing.

Americans have limited confidence in President Xi
On balance, Chinese President Xi Jinping receives negative ratings from the American public. Half of U.S. adults surveyed say they have little or no confidence in the Chinese leader, while 37% have at least some confidence. This is little changed from 2018 but has increased 9 percentage points since the question was first asked in 2014.

Equal shares of Democrats and Republicans (50%) say they lack confidence in the Chinese president. For Republicans, this marks increased confidence in Xi since 2014, when 65% said they had little to no confidence in him. Democratic confidence in him has remained largely unchanged over the past five years.

Fewer Americans voice confidence in Xi than say the same of leaders from other Asian nations, including Japan’s Shinzo Abe (61% confidence) and India’s Narendra Modi (42%). However, many more think Xi will do the right thing regarding world affairs than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in whom a mere 9% of Americans have confidence.

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/...na-turn-sharply-negative-amid-trade-tensions/

Yes, the feeling is mutual.

 

[truthseeker2010]

I would like to see a more aggressive chinese public translating in gov actions, only than white americans will realize whom they are really up against this time!

 

[Nan Yang]

AUGUST 13, 2019
LAURA SILVER, KAT DEVLIN AND CHRISTINE HUANG

Over the past year, the United States and China have slapped a series of escalating tariffs on one another, with the U.S. now taxing more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Despite periodic, high-level meetings intended to defuse these trade tensions, results of a new Pew Research Center survey indicate Americans believe economic ties between China and the U.S. are poor. And, amid these economic concerns, unfavorable opinions of China have reached a 14-year high. Today, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of China, up from 47% in 2018 and at the highest level since Pew Research Center began asking the question.

Americans also increasingly see China as a threat. Around a quarter of Americans (24%) name China as the country or group that poses the greatest threat to the U.S. in the future, twice as many as said the same in 2007. China is tied with Russia (24%) as the country or group most cited as a threat to the U.S. The only other country to measure in the double digits is North Korea (12%).


While people are concerned about the current bilateral economic relationship and increasingly see China as a potential adversary, they do not necessarily think China’s growing economy is bad for the United States. More Americans say China’s growing economy is good for the U.S. than that it is bad (50% vs. 41%, respectively). But, when it comes to China’s increasing military strength, opinion is more uniformly critical: 81% of Americans think China’s growing military power is bad for the U.S.

Republicans and Democrats largely agree in their assessments of how China’s growing economy and military will affect the U.S. But, while both Republicans and Democrats have unfavorable views of China, Republicans’ opinions are somewhat more negative: 70% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican have an unfavorable opinion of China today, compared with 59% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.

Partisans also diverge sharply when it comes to the state of current bilateral economic relations as well as their evaluations of which country has the world’s strongest economy. Republicans are more likely to say current economic ties between the United States and China are good, as well as to see the U.S. as the leading global economy. Party affiliation also colors which country or group people consider the most threatening to the U.S.: Republicans are more than twice as likely to name China as they are any other country (32%), while Democrats name China second – behind Russia – as the most threatening country (36% name Russia, 19% China).

The new survey by Pew Research Center, conducted May 13 to June 18, 2019, among 1,503 adults, also finds that older Americans tend to have more negative views of China than younger Americans. Older Americans are also more likely to be concerned about the impact of both China’s growing military and economic strength on the United States, though they are more likely to see the U.S. as the leading economic power than younger Americans.

Unfavorable opinion of China reaches new high

American opinion of China has fluctuated somewhat over time, with positive views outnumbering negative ones during President Barack Obama’s first term in office, but negative views mostly predominating since. Still, unfavorable opinion has never been higher than it is now, based on Pew Research Center’s 14 years of polling on the topic. Today, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of China, including around a quarter who have a very unfavorable opinion. This 13 percentage point increase in unfavorable opinion from 2018 to 2019 also marks the largest year-on-year change in public opinion toward China since 2005.

As has historically been the case in Pew Research Center polling, older people tend to have more negative opinions of China than younger people. About half of 18- to 29-year-olds (49%) express an unfavorable view of China, compared with 58% of those ages 30 to 49 and two-thirds of people 50 and older (67%). People with at least a four-year college degree are also more negative toward China (69%) than those who have not completed college (57%).


While unfavorable opinion of China increased among partisans of all stripes over the past year, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have become particularly negative in their evaluations of China. Seven-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners have an unfavorable opinion of China today, up from 51% in 2018. Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, unfavorable opinion increased somewhat less over the same period, from 47% to 59%.

More Americans say current U.S.-China economic ties are poor

Shifting attitudes toward China are colored, in part, by the context of the continued trade frictions and tariffs between the United States and China. Today, just over half of Americans (53%) believe current economic ties between the U.S. and China are bad. Fewer (41%) think economic relations between the two nations are good, with just 2% of American adults saying ties are very good. Partisanship is associated with views of the U.S.-China economic relationship: While 49% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents see current ties as good, around one-third (36%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents share this view. And, despite having more favorable views of China, younger Americans (ages 18 to 29) are about as likely as those 50 and older to have negative views of current economic relations with China (58% and 53%, respectively, say ties are bad).


Previous Pew Research Center work on U.S. views of China has shown that Americans often express more concern about China over economy-related issues, such as Chinese-held American debt and job loss to China. The most recent survey again reveals how Americans see China through an economic prism, one that in recent months has been clouded by bellicose discourse around trade disputes. Those in the U.S. who see economic ties with China as bad are much more likely than those who think the nations have good economic ties to have overall unfavorable views of China (71% vs. 47%).

Americans increasingly see China as a threat

Some elected officials and policymakers increasingly have been highlighting the ways in which China threatens the United States, even reviving the Committee on the Present Danger. Alongside these high-level shifts, the American public has grown more concerned about China’s future impact on the U.S. When asked to name the country or group that poses the greatest future threat to the U.S., China is one of the two most frequently named entities, with about a quarter of Americans citing the country as the greatest future threat (24%). This is a 5 percentage point increase from 2014, when 19% of Americans considered China to be the U.S.’s greatest future threat, and twice as many as said the same in 2007. Russia is the only other country named with similar frequency; another 24% of Americans consider it the country’s largest future threat this year. While largely unchanged since 2014, this marks a 12-fold increase from 2007. Over this same period, concerns about Iran and Iraq have fallen precipitously (from 24% in 2007 to 6% in 2019 for Iran, 21% to 1% for Iraq).

In 2019, China and Russia are named twice as often as the third-most mentioned country: 12% of Americans consider North Korea the greatest future threat.


But partisan differences are stark when it comes to concerns about China and Russia. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (32%) are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners (19%) to name China as the biggest threat to the U.S. in the future. Among Republicans, China is the most frequently named threat in 2019; in comparison, Democrats most frequently cite Russia as the U.S.’s greatest future threat.

A separate Pew Research Center survey conducted in July found a similar pattern, with Democrats much more likely than Republicans to view Russia’s power as a major threat to the well-being of the U.S., and Republicans modestly more likely than Democrats to say this about China. There was no partisan difference in in the shares naming China’s influence as the country’s greatest future threat in 2014.

China’s military growth, not economic growth, seen as potential problem for the U.S.

China’s navy and air force are the largest in Asia, and defense spending has risen rapidly over the past decade. Against this backdrop, a large majority of Americans (81%) say China’s growing military power is a bad thing for the U.S. Only about one-in-ten (11%) say it’s a good thing. Even among those with favorable views of China, roughly seven-in-ten (69%) view its expanding military power negatively. Nationwide, the sense that China’s growing military would be beneficial for the U.S. has remained largely unchanged over the past decade.

Across age groups, concern about China’s growing military power is highest among older Americans. Among those ages 50 and older, 84% say it is a bad thing, while 76% of those 18 to 29 say the same. Those with at least a four-year college degree are more likely than those without to view China’s growing military power negatively. There are notably no significant partisan divisions over this issue.


But even while many Americans are concerned about the potential impact of China’s military growth, they are somewhat sanguine about how China’s economic growth affects the United States. Half of Americans think China’s growing economy is a good thing for the U.S. while 41% say it’s a bad thing. When first asked in 2005, similar proportions felt the same (49% good, 40% bad). Such optimism was not always the case, though. Those saying China’s economic achievements were good for America dropped to less than 40% in 2008 and 2011. However, in 2014 these attitudes rebounded slightly.

Interestingly, roughly half of both Republicans (50%) and Democrats (51%) agree that Chinese growth is good for the U.S. This relative agreement stands in marked contrast to evaluations of the state of current bilateral economic relations, which are colored by partisanship.

Younger Americans – who are more favorable toward China overall – are also more likely than older Americans (56% vs. 47%) to see benefits to China’s growing economy. Those with at least a four-year college degree are also slightly more likely than those without to say China’s growing economy is good for the U.S.

Americans see their own country leading economically

Although China’s economy has grown consistently at above 6% for more than a decade, Americans’ views of which country – China or the U.S. – has the strongest economy have fluctuated considerably over this same period. Since 2015, however, when asked to choose between the U.S., China, Japan and the countries of the European Union as the world’s leading economic power, Americans tend to choose their own country. Today, half of Americans say the U.S. is the dominant economy, whereas roughly one-third (32%) name China – an 18 percentage point difference.

There is a stark partisan difference in how Americans evaluate the world’s top economic power. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more than three times as likely to name the U.S. as they are China (67% and 21%, respectively). In contrast, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are equally likely to name the U.S. and China (both 40%).

Younger Americans are also more likely than older Americans to say China is the leading economic power: 37% of those ages 18 to 29 name China as the leading economic power, while 27% of those 50 and older do the same. Those who say that China’s growing economy is a bad thing for the U.S. are similarly more likely to say China is the top economic power than those who say the growing economy is a good thing.


Americans have limited confidence in President Xi
On balance, Chinese President Xi Jinping receives negative ratings from the American public. Half of U.S. adults surveyed say they have little or no confidence in the Chinese leader, while 37% have at least some confidence. This is little changed from 2018 but has increased 9 percentage points since the question was first asked in 2014.


Equal shares of Democrats and Republicans (50%) say they lack confidence in the Chinese president. For Republicans, this marks increased confidence in Xi since 2014, when 65% said they had little to no confidence in him. Democratic confidence in him has remained largely unchanged over the past five years.

Fewer Americans voice confidence in Xi than say the same of leaders from other Asian nations, including Japan’s Shinzo Abe (61% confidence) and India’s Narendra Modi (42%). However, many more think Xi will do the right thing regarding world affairs than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in whom a mere 9% of Americans have confidence.

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/...na-turn-sharply-negative-amid-trade-tensions/

There is a different. Americans dislike of China is due to domestic politics.

Chinese dislike of US is an reaction to it.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I would like to see a more aggressive chinese public translating in gov actions, only than white americans will realize whom they are really up against this time!

Your comment is racist. Surely you can do better.

 

[truthseeker2010]

Your comment is racist. Surely you can do better.

I am just encouraging competition, not boasting about any particular race, tell this to your fellow countrymen when they boast about US invincibility.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Your comment is racist. Surely you can do better.

Mentioning race is not in and of itself racist. He never claimed any particular characteristic of any race being superior or inferior.

It is true that many white Americans do not have any respect for Chinese people. Do you deny this? Is pointing this fact out racist?

 

[TruthSeeker]

Mentioning race is not in and of itself racist. He never claimed any particular characteristic of any race being superior or inferior.

It is true that many white Americans do not have any respect for Chinese people. Do you deny this? Is pointing this fact out racist?

"many" is meaningless. What, if three "caucasian" Americans don't respect "chinese" of the PRC,because they are "mongoloid", that means American "whites" are all racist? Mentioning race, when it does not have anything to do with the topic is racist.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

"many" is meaningless. What, if three "caucasian" Americans don't respect "chinese" of the PRC,because they are "mongoloid", that means American "whites" are all racist? Mentioning race, when it does not have anything to do with the topic is racist.

Racism against Chinese has literally driven US government policy in the past. The Chinese exclusion act existed. There was no apology until 2016.

It isn't a few old white guys being racist towards Chinese verbally. It is the US government policy.

Chinese American Vincent Chin was lynched by white racists, no justice the perpetrators were sentenced to probation.

Taiwanese American Kao Kuanchung was shot by California police while unarmed, then accused of making martial arts poses on the police. No justice, the police shooters were richly rewarded instead.

I can keep going all day. Chinese Americans are more oppressed than blacks. Blacks only got Jim Crow, Chinese had both Chinese Exclusion Act and Jim Crow.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Racism against Chinese has literally driven US government policy in the past. The Chinese exclusion act existed. There was no apology until 2016.
Chinese Americans are more oppressed than blacks. Blacks only got Jim Crow, Chinese had both Chinese Exclusion Act and Jim Crow.

Total fantasy. News from the 19th century at best. Get a life.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Total fantasy. News from the 19th century at best. Get a life.

Vincent Chin is from 19th century?

Kuo Kuanchung is from 19th century?

Here's a question for ya: when did the Chinese Exclusion Act get repealed? Was it in the 19th century?

You can't refute a single one of these facts.

You are the racist. Denying racism exists is in fact a form of racism. Go tell a black man that racism doesn't exist to his face, you dare do that?

 

[bilibili]

In fact, CCP gov will only handle the current relationship with the United States in a low-key manner and ignore actual public opinion. The long-term response to the Trump administration was set at the beginning of the year.

 

[redtom]

The Chinese ambassador to the United States has said before, China is now asking the United States only one question: is the United States ready to keep the peace?China can talk to the United States about anything, including war.

When the United States fabricate lies to accuse China, There is no need for China to make any compromise.Start war or not?Just one question.

 

[LeGenD]

Thread moved to appropriate section.