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© Reuters. File Picture: Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the Medal Award Ceremony for the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China. This still image is taken from a video released on June 29 and held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters)-A survey of 17 advanced economies released on Wednesday showed that although the image of the United States has rebounded since President Joe Biden took over from Donald Trump However, people’s views on China are still generally negative, and confidence in Chinese leader Xi Jinping is close to historical lows.
A survey conducted by the US-based Pew Research Center found that China scores higher than the United States in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, but since last year, both scores have increased significantly.
According to the survey summary, overall, unfavorable perceptions of China have been at or close to historical highs, and there has been basically no change since last year.
Last year, Pew found that few people believed that Xi Jinping or Trump would “do the right thing” in world affairs, even though more people in Western Europe had confidence in the Chinese leader.
This year, people’s confidence in Xi Jinping is still at or close to historical lows, and “in contrast, the view of Biden is much more positive than that of Trump.” The summary stated that in all places, “most people said they believed that Biden would do the right thing in world affairs.”
“The perception of Xi Jinping is still generally negative,” it said. “Of the 17 members of the public surveyed, with the exception of one, most people said they have little confidence in him.”
It said that in Australia, France, Sweden and Canada, half or more of the people said they had no confidence in Xi Jinping at all.
The economies surveyed include Australia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and the United States.
The Pew Research Center found that with the exception of Singapore and New Zealand, more than half of the respondents in every place said that establishing strong economic ties with the United States is more important than establishing strong economic ties with China.
However, in many advanced economies, the assessment of China’s response to the pandemic has “dramatically improved”, with 49% saying that it has done a good job, while 37% have positive comments on the U.S. response.
The survey found that Europeans recognized China’s response more than the Asia-Pacific region, and in these two regions, few people believed that China respected the people’s personal freedom.
However, throughout the Asia-Pacific region, there are different opinions on whether efforts to promote human rights in China are more important, even if this damages economic relations, economic relations should be given priority.
The majority in New Zealand, Australia and Japan and the majority in Taiwan prioritize human rights, while the majority in South Korea and Singapore prioritize economic relations.
In the Asia-Pacific region, with the exception of Singapore, most people in other countries said they have little or no confidence in the way Xi Jinping handles world affairs, and Japan expresses this view the most (86%). In Singapore, 70% of people expressed confidence in Xi Jinping.
Pew said that the non-US data comes from 16,254 adults surveyed between March 12 and May 26. The data from the United States comes from 2,596 adults surveyed from February 1 to 7.
The survey can be found here: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/06/30/large-majorities-say-china-does-not-respect-the-personal-freedoms-of-its-people /
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