[Source/Observer Network, Zhang Jingjuan] According to a comprehensive report from Axios, a U.S. political news website, and The Independent, a British newspaper, on June 2, Morning Consult's latest poll shows that China's global favorability is gradually increasing, while the international community's evaluation of the United States has clearly declined. Trump's administration's "America First" trade protectionist policies have actually helped promote "China Rising Again."

According to the survey, America's net favorability has plummeted from over positive 20 at the beginning of 2024 to -1.5 in late May 2025, while China has risen to +8.8.

This poll covers 41 countries including Canada, France, Japan, and Russia, deriving results by calculating the difference between the proportion of respondents with positive evaluations and those with negative evaluations.

Morning Consult's report points out that since Trump returned to the White House in January this year, America's international reputation has plummeted dramatically. Data shows that except for Russia, the views of most respondents in other countries have significantly worsened, while China's favorability has generally improved.

The increase in favorability towards China began largely in March, after Trump announced the "Liberation Day" tariff measures, when China's reputation saw a significant rise.

The report states: "Just after Washington announced 'reciprocal tariffs' on April 2, 2025, America's global standing fell to a tracking low, causing America's net favorability to fall below zero for the first time since January 2022. The reputation damage caused by the 'Liberation Day' tariff announcement is now settled."

Reports indicate that America's declining reputation has already caused actual economic losses, with a sharp reduction in the number of foreign tourists and a depreciation of the dollar due to White House policies.

Jason McMann, head of the Political Intelligence Department at consulting firm, said that as global perceptions of the United States deteriorate, American businesses' trading and investment opportunities overseas are also shrinking. Consumers rejecting American products will also affect America's ability to create jobs abroad.

In addition, there are concerns that Trump's student visa ban could also cause losses for America.

Fanta Aw, executive director of NAFSA, an international education association based in Washington, stated in a statement that expelling international students would have long-term impacts on America's future talent pipeline. "The loss of contributions from international students will weaken domestic students' understanding of the world and severely impact America's economic strength, security, and global competitiveness. These outcomes contradict the current administration's goal of making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous."

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Harvard University president Summers harshly criticized Trump's decision to block Harvard University from admitting international students on May 22, saying, "This approach is malicious, illegal, unwise, and extremely harmful."

Summers pointed out that cutting off opportunities for foreign students will harm America's economy and national security, and goes against the fundamental principles of America as a democracy. He said that Trump's actions will be a "big gift" to other countries competing for the international student market because it is tantamount to "America doing everything possible to help the higher education systems of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand."

Morning Consult believes that a silver lining lies in the fact that America's global standing has recently begun to rebound after Trump suspended the so-called "reciprocal tariffs." Following Trump's reduction of tariffs on Chinese goods in May, America's score also slightly recovered.

However, less than a month later, Trump claimed that "China has completely violated the tariff agreement," while baselessly accusing China of failing to accelerate the export of rare earths.

In response, the Ministry of Commerce spokesperson refuted on June 2, stating, "After the Joint Statement of the Geneva Economic and Trade Talks between China and the United States was released on May 12, China canceled or suspended relevant tariffs and non-tariff measures taken against U.S. 'reciprocal tariffs' in accordance with the consensus reached in the joint statement. China handles its responsibilities seriously, implements them conscientiously, and actively maintains the consensus of the Geneva Economic and Trade Talks. China is determined to uphold its rights and faithfully fulfills its commitments."

The spokesperson said that on the contrary, after the Geneva Economic and Trade Talks, the U.S. successively introduced multiple discriminatory restrictive measures against China, including issuing AI chip export control guidelines, halting sales of EDA (Electronic Design Automation) software to China, and announcing the revocation of Chinese student visas. These actions seriously violate the consensus of the two leaders' telephone conversation on January 17 and severely undermine the existing consensuses of the Geneva Economic and Trade Talks, causing serious damage to China's legitimate rights and interests. The U.S. continues to provoke new economic and trade frictions unilaterally, increasing the uncertainty and instability of bilateral economic and trade relations. Not only does it not reflect on itself, but it also blames China for violating the consensus without justification, which seriously deviates from the facts. China firmly rejects such unreasonable accusations.

This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7511543688409940507/

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