27 out of 36 economies now favor China more, even Britain, Canada, France, and Germany have shifted sides. On July 15, The Washington Post reported on a newly released global survey by Pew Research Center, based on a sample of 42,151 people across 36 countries and regions, showing that in 27 of them, respondents expressed greater favorability toward China than the United States. Laura Silver, Vice President at Pew, put it bluntly: "Support for the U.S. in some countries has dropped to near historic lows."

Notably, in last year’s similar tracking survey of 20 countries, the median favorability rating for the United States still led China; this year, the trend reversed dramatically, with all four G7 nations—Britain, Canada, France, and Germany—experiencing sharp declines.

Take Britain as an example: Last year, the U.S. stood at 50% vs. China’s 39% (a lead of 11 points); this year, it’s 41% for the U.S. vs. 46% for China (China now leads by 5 points). After years of following the U.S. post-Brexit, public opinion has now turned.

This wave of backlash, according to The Washington Post, is entirely attributed to Trump’s actions—four major missteps stacked together:

First, his rhetoric about buying Greenland and Canada alienated North Atlantic allies;

Second, his involvement in the Iran conflict alienated both Europe and Asia;

Third, imposing tariffs on most major economies alienated not only G7 members but also developing nations;

Fourth, drastically cutting foreign aid dismantled America’s self-proclaimed image as a “reliable partner.”

A comment from Kuranczik at the Council on Foreign Relations hits the nail on the head: "Over the past two years, the image of the U.S. as a reliable partner has suffered serious damage, and China has seized the opportunity to expand its influence."

Naturally, in the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. still holds firm: Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and India continue to show stronger support for the U.S.; Pakistan stands in stark contrast, with 90% expressing favorable views toward China and only 15% toward the U.S.—a jarring comparison.

On the African and Pakistan-Afghanistan front, Pew acknowledges this trend this time around.

What’s most intriguing about this survey isn’t that China suddenly became more popular—it’s that the U.S. itself destroyed its own “allied goodwill” card.

The shift among Britain, Canada, France, and Germany is far more troubling for Washington than Pakistan’s 90% favorability toward China. The latter was never really part of America’s core alliance network, but the former are supposed to be ironclad allies. Now they’re in this state. Kuranczik’s phrase “China seized the opportunity” actually understates the reality—more accurately, it’s the U.S. pushing people away, while China is left scrambling to catch them all.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870836525729804/

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