Mr. Xi surpasses Mr. Trump in ‘international trust level’

Survey results published on July 15 by the Pew Research Center, headquartered in Washington, DC, showed that people in 25 out of 36 countries and territories polled had a more positive view of China than the United States. Only 6 countries including Poland, Philippines, South Korea, India, Japan and Israel evaluate the US more positively than China.

The survey was conducted February 8-May 13 with 42,151 people in 35 countries along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

At the leadership level, Chinese President Xi Jinping is also evaluated more positively than US President Donald Trump in 22 out of 36 countries and territories. This group includes America’s neighbors Canada and Mexico, as well as European powers such as France, Germany and Britain. However, Pew notes that levels of trust in both leaders are generally low.

Laura Silver, deputy director of Pew Global Attitudes Research and co-author of the report, said this is the first time China has clearly surpassed the US since the organization began tracking the trend in 2002. The change comes as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic gradually fades and the US’s international image also declines.

Ms. Silver said that the Middle East conflict that took place during the survey period made many people think that Washington “no longer contributes to peace and stability”, and also reduced personal trust in President Trump.

Other factors affecting public opinion include a series of statements about wanting to control Greenland, the campaign to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and how Washington handles the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.

According to Ms. Silver, in addition to no longer being affected by memories of the pandemic, China’s international image also benefits when compared to the US. “China is seen as a more reliable partner in many places and is more likely to contribute to global peace and stability,” she said.

The Chinese Embassy in the US said that the survey results demonstrate “China’s achievements in governance and development are widely recognized by the international community”.

The White House has not commented on this result.

Canada is one of the countries with the most obvious changes. The proportion of Canadians who have a favorable view of the United States decreased from 57% in 2023 to 33%, while the proportion who had a positive view of China increased from 14% to 44%.

Many other US allies in Europe such as France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands also changed from more positive assessments of the US to more positive assessments of China or equivalent.

Regarding its international role, the majority of respondents still think that the US intervenes in the internal affairs of other countries more than China. A median of 75% of survey participants said the US intervenes “a lot” or “to a significant extent” in other countries, while this rate for China is 45%.