China's Increasing Unpopularity Within the West

A new poll by the Pew Research Center paints a dim picture of China's popularity in Western nations, whereas views of the United States have either remained constant or improved over the past decade. In the U.S., the percentage of the population viewing China favorably has declined down to just 38 percent in 2015, while those seeing China as unfavorable has increased from 35 percent in 2005 to 54 percent today. Similar trends in China's unfavorability rating during the last ten years are clear for the United Kingdom (16 percent to 37 percent), Canada (27 percent to 48 percent), Germany (37 percent to 60 percent), Japan (71 percent to 89 percent), and Spain (21 percent to 50 percent).

Just 39 percent of Canadians, 34 percent of Germans, 40 percent of Italians, 9 percent of Japanese, 41 percent of Spaniards, and 45 percent of those in the U.K. now view China favorably. In contrast, Pew's "survey of 40 nations finds that ratings for the U.S. remain mostly positive, with a global median of 69 percent expressing a favorable view of America." For a nation potentially under threat due to Chinese ambitions involving territorial expansion within the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, troubles appear evident in Australia. When asked who it is more important to have strong economic ties with -- China or the U.S., 50 percent of Australians said China while just 29 percent said the U.S. (18 percent said both, one percent indicated neither, and four percent did not know). In contrast, Canadians indicated 73 percent in favor of the U.S. and only 13 percent for China -- with 8 percent saying both. A bare majority (51 percent) of Australians said increased U.S. military resources in Asia are a good thing, versus almost 40 percent who indicated they were a bad thing. South Korea was even more divided (45 percent "bad thing" compared to 50 percent "good thing") over the issue of an increased American military presence. Both nations are dependent on the U.S. for their overarching national defense. Neither the Australian nor South Korean military could win a war with China -- and neither is a nuclear weapons power capable of asserting non-conventional deterrence. In the face of regional Chinese aggressions, one would have thought these respective publics would display greater understanding of the need for both a stronger U.S. economy (and correspondingly weaker Chinese economy) and enhanced American military involvement in the region.

Sierra Rayne——Bio and Archives

Sierra Rayne holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and writes regularly on environment, energy, and national security topics. He can be found on Twitter at @srayne_ca