Over 40% of Americans see China as ‘an enemy’: Pew report

More than 40% of Americans now label China as an enemy, up from a quarter two years ago and reaching the highest level in five years, according to an annual Pew Research Center survey released yesterday [Macau time].

Half of Americans think of China as a competitor, and only 6% consider the country a partner, according to the report. The findings come as the Biden administration is seeking to stabilize U.S.-China relations to avoid miscalculations that could result in clashes, while still trying to counter the world’s second-largest economy on issues from Russia’s war in Ukraine to Taiwan and human rights.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have both recently visited China in the administration’s latest effort to “responsibly” manage the competition with Beijing. Despite those overtures, President Joe Biden has been competing with former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in November’s election, on being tough on China.

The Pew report, which is drawn from an April 1-7 survey of a sample of 3,600 U.S. adults, found that roughly half of Americans think limiting China’s power and influence should be a top U.S. foreign policy priority. Only 8% don’t think it should be a priority at all.

For the fifth year in a row, about eight in 10 Americans report an unfavorable view of China, the Pew report said.

“Today, 81% of U.S. adults see the country unfavorably, including 43% who hold a very unfavorable opinion. Chinese President Xi Jinping receives similarly negative ratings,” the report said.

About eight in 10 Americans say they have little or no confidence in Xi to do the right thing regarding world affairs. About 10% said they have never heard of him.

American attitudes toward China have turned largely critical after the U.S. launched a trade war against China in 2018 and since the emergence of COVID-19, which was first reported in China.

At the same time, the U.S. government has been overt about competing with China on economic and diplomatic issues.

Following that, 42% of Americans say China is “an enemy of the U.S.,” the highest level since 2021, when Pew began asking the question.

The share is much larger among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, Pew said, with 59% of them describing China as an enemy, compared with 28% of Democrats and those leaning Democratic.

Older Americans, conservative Republicans and those with a sour view of the U.S. economy are more critical of China and more likely to consider the country an enemy, the report said. MDT/AP