Global Opinions on the US-China Relationship

Global Opinions on the U.S.-China Relationship

Richard Wike

Director of Global Attitudes Research

October 23, 2014 2 www.pewresearch.org

Pew Research Center

• Funded largely by the Pew Charitable Trusts

• Non-profit, non-partisan “fact tank” in Washington

• Research areas

• U.S. domestic politics

• Media & news

• Social trends

• Religion and public life

• Internet and technology

• Hispanics

• Global public opinion

• Since 2002, Pew has surveyed in 82 countries

• www.pewresearch.org

CHINA’S IMAGE



Views of China

35%

78

77

74

72

66

56

38

31

16

7

49

47

47

39

32

28

26

64

64

55%

3

22

17

17

25

42

58

39

78

91

46

38

53

55

52

64

70

21

28

U.S.

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Malaysia

Thailand

Indonesia

South Korea

Philippines

India

Vietnam

Japan

Greece

UK

France

Spain

Poland

Germany

Italy

Ukraine

Russia

Unfavorable Favorable


Views of China

64% 61

53 49

46 35

21

67 60

58 56

48 44 43

40 38

77 74

71 70

61 61

45

21% 29

44 50

53 63

68

26 27

19 27 25

44 38

30 32

10 16

12 14

18 23

40

TunisiaPalest. ter.

LebanonIsraelEgypt

JordanTurkey

VenezuelaChile

NicaraguaPeru

El SalvadorBrazil

MexicoArgentinaColombia

TanzaniaKenya

SenegalNigeriaUgandaGhana

South Africa

Unfavorable Favorable


Americans Express Increasingly Negative Views about China

43

52

42

39

50 49 51

40

37 35 35

29

39

42

38 36 36

40

52 55

0

75

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

%

Favorable

Unfavorable

U.S. views of China


Age Gap on Views of China in Many Countries Favorable view of China by age

18-29 30-49 50+ Youngest - oldest gap

% % %

France 61 48 41 +20

UK 60 48 40 +20

Mexico 52 45 32 +20

U.S. 46 39 26 +20

Brazil 53 43 36 +17

Spain 50 40 34 +16

Venezuela 72 70 57 +15

Senegal 75 70 61 +14

Peru 65 54 51 +14

South Africa 49 48 35 +14

Tanzania 80 78 67 +13

Ukraine 71 66 58 +13

Israel 54 52 41 +13


Which Country Is Greatest Ally/Threat?

Views in: Ally Threat

Bangladesh U.S. (43%) India (27%)

China Russia (25) U.S. (36)

India U.S. (33) Pakistan (45)

Indonesia U.S. (28) U.S. (25)

Japan U.S. (62) China (68)

Malaysia China (27) U.S. (26)

Pakistan China (57) U.S. (38)

Philippines U.S. (83) China (58)

South Korea U.S. (68) North Korea (36)

Thailand U.S. (29) Cambodia (11)

Vietnam U.S. (30) China (74)

U.S. Britain (31) Russia (23)

Top choice (%)


Many Say China’s Growing Economy Is Good for Own Country Overall, do you think China’s growing economy is a good thing or a bad thing for our country?

49%

75

70

69

62

57

55

47

30

23

21

57

52

51

47

44

26

14

47

40

42%

14

22

8

8

36

28

39

57

46

71

28

30

45

53

46

53 75

27

15

U.S.

Thailand

Bangladesh

Malaysia

Pakistan

South Korea

Indonesia

Japan

Philippines

India

Vietnam

UK

Greece

Germany

France

Spain

Poland

Italy

Russia

Ukraine

Bad thing Good thing


Many Say China’s Growing Economy Is Good for Own Country Overall, do you think China’s growing economy is a good thing or a bad thing for our country?

66% 64

62 58

53 53

24

74 66

63 54 54

41 39

38 30

80 76

75 68

66 52

41

18% 27

21 37

22 42

57

13 20

13 23

26 20

41 36

45

13 10

12 8

22 24

36

TunisiaLebanon

IsraelJordan

Palest. ter.Egypt

Turkey

NicaraguaVenezuela

ChilePeru

El SalvadorArgentina

BrazilMexico

Colombia

KenyaUgandaSenegalNigeria

TanzaniaGhana

South Africa

Bad thing Good thing

VIEWS OF THE U.S.



Western Europe Much More Confident in Obama

20

83

26

58

30

74

51

71

0

20

40

60

80

100

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

France

Spain

%

UK

Germany

George W. Bush Barack Obama

Confidence in U.S. president to do the right thing in world affairs


Views of U.S.

6%

17

18

22

15

30

33

16

40

43

59

18

25

19

27

34

47

63

35

71

92%

82

76

76

73

66

59

55

51

50

14

78

75

73

66

60

51

34

57

23

Philippines

South Korea

Vietnam

Bangladesh

Thailand

Japan

Indonesia

India

Malaysia

China

Pakistan

Italy

France

Poland

UK

Spain

Germany

Greece

Ukraine

Russia

Favorable Unfavorable


Views of U.S.

16%

47

57

66

73

85

85

15

19

18

23

27

22

31

31

44

12

9

14

11

16

19

23

84%

42

41

30

19

12

10

80

72

71

65

65

64

63

62

36

80

77

75

74

69

68

62

Israel

Tunisia

Lebanon

Palest. ter.

Turkey

Jordan

Egypt

El Salvador

Chile

Nicaragua

Peru

Brazil

Colombia

Mexico

Venezuela

Argentina

Kenya

Ghana

Tanzania

Senegal

Nigeria

South Africa

Uganda

Favorable Unfavorable


Age Gap on Views of U.S. in Many Countries Favorable view of U.S. by age

18-29 30-49 50+ Youngest - oldest gap

% % %

Vietnam 89 74 64 +25

Thailand 87 71 65 +22

China 60 50 39 +21

Tanzania 81 74 62 +19

Mexico 71 65 52 +19

Senegal 80 76 62 +18

Peru 75 63 58 +17

Brazil 73 63 57 +16

Japan 75 74 60 +15

Ukraine 67 56 53 +14

South Africa 74 65 61 +13

Spain 72 55 59 +13

India 59 55 47 +12

Argentina 41 40 29 +12

Jordan 17 11 5 +12


Most Around the World Oppose U.S. Drone Strikes

Note: Regional medians. Europe median excludes Russia and Ukraine. Middle East median excludes Israel.

9%

7

12

27

29

52

65

86%

84

74

72

47

41

27

Latin America

Middle East

Asia

Europe

Africa

U.S.

Israel

Approve Disapprove


Widespread Opposition to U.S. Surveillance Is U.S. monitoring of __ acceptable or unacceptable?

Note: Percentages are global medians excluding the U.S.

12%

20

31

64

81%

73

62

29

Citizens from

your country

Leaders of

your country

American

citizens

Terrorist

suspects

Acceptable Unacceptable


Eroding Faith that U.S. Protects Personal Freedoms of Its People U.S. government respects personal freedoms

2013 2014 Change % %

El Salvador 79 50 -29 Brazil 76 51 -25

Germany 81 58 -23 Pakistan 54 31 -23

Argentina 54 32 -22 Russia 67 47 -20

South Africa 70 52 -18 Nigeria 70 53 -17 Mexico 55 38 -17 Greece 58 43 -15

Chile 66 53 -13 Malaysia 63 50 -13

Spain 69 57 -12 France 80 69 -11

UK 75 65 -10 Uganda 70 60 -10


But Most Still Say U.S. Respects Personal Freedoms

Does the government of ___ respect the personal freedoms of its people?

58%

56

36

28

U.S.

France

China*

Russia

*Not asked in China.

Note: Percentages are global medians saying “yes.”

October 23, 2014 22

Views of U.S. Culture, Ideas

73 65

45 43

26 23 32

48 43

68

U.S. technological

& scientific

advances

U.S. music,

movies & TV

U.S. ideas about

democracy

U.S. ways of doing

business

U.S. ideas &

customs

spreading here

Positive Negative

World medians based on 20 countries surveyed in 2012 (not including U.S.).

2012 Pew Global Attitudes survey.

www.pewresearch.org


Young Chinese Embrace American Soft Power

Source: Spring 2012 Global Attitudes survey.

59% 56

48 50

55%

43 45 44

40%

30

36 34

Like U.S. ideas

about democracy

Like U.S. pop

culture

Like U.S. business

practices

Diffusion of U.S.

ideas is good

18-29 30-49 50+

Views of American soft power by age

THE EVOLVING BALANCE OF POWER: U.S. VS. CHINA



Worldwide China Gaining on U.S. as Top Economic Power

Today, which one of the following do you think is the world’s leading economic power?

49%

40

19%

31

2008 2014

U.S. China

Note: Median percentages based on the 20 countries surveyed in both 2008 and 2014.

October 23, 2014 26

Europeans Say It Is China

U.S.

2008 2014 Change

% % %

Spain 42 31 -11

UK 44 34 -10

France 44 37 -7

Germany 25 20 -5

China

2008 2014 Change

% % %

24 49 +25

29 49 +20

31 51 +20

30 49 +19

www.pewresearch.org

Today, which one of the following do you think is the world’s leading economic power?


Asia: U.S. Still Seen as World’s Leading Economy Today, which one of the following do you think is the world’s leading economic power?

U.S. China Japan EU Other/None/ Don’t know

% % % % %

Philippines 68 14 13 2 4

Bangladesh 62 20 6 8 3

South Korea 60 32 1 5 2

Japan 59 23 4 7 6

Vietnam 56 11 14 10 10

China 55 25 1 6 12

India 47 13 7 1 33

Indonesia 47 27 12 3 12

Malaysia 40 31 13 2 14

Pakistan 35 30 1 1 33

Thailand 30 34 18 6 12

MEDIAN 55 25 7 5 12 Note: Bolded figures represent statistically significant majorities or pluralities.


Globally China Seen Replacing U.S. as World Superpower

Which comes closer to your view?

Note: Median percentages based on the 20 countries surveyed in both 2008 and 2014.

39%

32

41%

50

2008 2014

China will never replace U.S.

China will eventually replace/has replaced U.S.

AMERICAN VIEWS OF U.S. POWER &

ROLE IN THE WORLD



Nearly Half of Americans Say U.S. Is Less Important as a

World Leader Than It Was a Decade Ago

Compared with 10 years ago, the U.S. role as a world leader today is …

Survey conducted August 20-24, 2014. Other/Don’t know response not shown. Pew Research Center/USA Today.

28 27

45

17 15

39

25

20

53

48

27

44

31

27

34

0

20

40

60

1974 1984 1994 2004 2014

Less important

and powerful

More important

and powerful

As important

and powerful

%


CFR Members, Like Public, Say U.S. Power Has Declined

Compared with 10 years ago, the U.S. role as a world leader today is …

62%

48

7%

15

30% 34

CFR Elites General Public

Less important More important As important

CFR data from 2013 ‘America’s Place in the World’ survey. General public survey conducted August 20-24, 2014 with Pew Research Center/USA Today.


All Pew Research Center reports and data are

available online at www.pewresearch.org

Global Opinions on the US-China Relationship

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