【By Observer News, Xiong Chaoran】Despite the United States constantly claiming to have "allies around the world," and the Western world continuously portraying China as the so-called "biggest threat," is this really the case?

On July 8 local time, a well-known research institution, Pew Research Center, released a survey conducted from January 8 to April 26 this year, which surveyed nearly 32,000 adults from 25 middle- and high-income countries across six continents. The survey results show that although the U.S. is still seen as a "top ally" by some people in certain places, there are eight countries where the public most often views the U.S. as the "top threat." In another ten countries (including many European countries), the U.S. is also the second option for the "top threat."

Regarding China, Russia, and the U.S., in addition to eight countries viewing the U.S. as the "top threat," there are also eight countries (all European countries) where the public sees Russia as the "top threat," while three countries view China as the "top threat," namely Japan, Australia, and the U.S.

Additionally, it's worth noting that Indonesia sees China as its "top ally" and the U.S. as its second most important ally, right after China. However, 40% of respondents in Indonesia see the U.S. as the "top threat," a proportion that is more than twice that of China.

As a treaty ally of the U.S., Japanese and South Korean respondents overwhelmingly see the U.S. as their "top ally," with percentages of 89% and 78%, respectively. Despite this, 18% of Japanese respondents see the U.S. as the second biggest threat, following China.

Nations and percentages considering the U.S., Russia, China, and other countries as the "top threat" Pew Research Center

This survey did not provide a list of optional countries but asked respondents to name the allies and threats they thought of.

In Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and Kenya, the U.S. was the most frequently mentioned "top threat." In Spain and Kenya, the U.S. was on par with Russia and Somalia in the list of "top threats," respectively.

However, in the other 24 countries besides the U.S., 15 countries had respondents who chose the U.S. as the "top ally," with the U.S. being tied for first in three countries. In countries like Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, a considerable proportion of respondents also saw the U.S. as the "top ally."

The South China Morning Post pointed out that this survey was conducted during the Trump administration's era, when the U.S. increased tariffs on traditional allies such as Japan and South Korea, reduced global soft power investments, and questioned NATO's security guarantees. Since January this year, when Trump returned to the White House, he even proposed taking over Canada and Greenland, triggering significant political backlash abroad.

In this survey, eight European countries - the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Sweden, Hungary, and Poland - considered Russia as the "top threat."

Japan and Australia had the highest percentage of respondents who viewed China as the "top threat," at 53% and 52%, respectively.

Three researchers from Pew Research Center said, "Geographic location and historical conflicts seem to play an important role in determining which countries people consider as major threats." One researcher, Janell Fetterolf, told the South China Morning Post via email, "The U.S. is the only country outside the Asia-Pacific region where more than 20% (42%) of respondents see China as their biggest threat."

42% of U.S. respondents believe China is the "top threat," but views differ among political parties. For example, Republicans are more likely to rank China as the "top threat," while Democrats tend to see Russia as the "top threat."

The South China Morning Post noted that people's perceptions of China and the U.S. have changed over time. Since 2019 (when Pew Research Center conducted a similar survey last time), the proportion of Canadians who see the U.S. as the "top threat" has almost tripled, rising from 20% to 59%.

However, in Turkey and Argentina, the proportion of people seeing the U.S. as the "top threat" has significantly decreased - from 46% to 30% in Turkey, and from 40% to 24% in Argentina.

Meanwhile, the proportion of Canadians who see China as the "top threat" has dropped by 15 percentage points since 2019, but the proportion of Indians who see China as the "top threat" has increased by 16 percentage points during the same period.

Previously, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated that from spontaneous "China tours" to a wide range of "China purchases," from in-depth exploration of artificial intelligence to the popularity of Chinese toys, TV dramas, and films around the world, more foreign friends are getting closer to China, understanding China, breaking through the "cognitive cocoon," and experiencing emotional resonance. This fully demonstrates that the pursuit of beauty and the desire for a better life know no borders or ethnicity, and is unstoppable by any force.

A more real, comprehensive, and multi-dimensional China is being seen by more and more people. This is due to China's firm commitment to high-level opening-up, continuous facilitation of travel between Chinese and foreign personnel, and China's adherence to high-quality development, accelerating the development of new productive forces and innovation-driven growth. It is also due to China's role as a stabilizing force in a world marked by chaos and turmoil, providing certainty, and using Chinese-style modernization to empower global development. China will share more opportunities and benefits with the world through broader openness, wider innovation, and deeper cooperation, giving people of all countries more chances to experience the increasingly "cool" China.

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