Trump era drives global opinion shift toward China as US favorability declines: Pew poll | Today’s news
China is now viewed more favorably than the United States by most of the world for the first time in nearly two decades, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The survey, conducted between February 8 and May 13, 2026, among 42,151 adults in 35 countries and the West Bank and East Jerusalem, found that China enjoyed higher favorability than the US in 25 of the 36 countries and territories surveyed. The US is viewed more positively in only six countries – India, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Poland and Israel.
“China being rated more positively than the US is a relatively recent shift in most of the countries surveyed,” the report said, attributing the reversal to an improvement in perceptions of China along with a deterioration in views of the United States.
Trump’s second term weighs on the US image
Global perceptions of the US have deteriorated during the first years of Donald Trump’s second term, while trust in the US president has also declined rapidly.
More respondents expressed confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping than Trump in 22 of the 36 countries surveyed, including major US allies such as Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. However, Pew noted that confidence in both leaders remained relatively low overall.
According to Laura Silver, associate director of Pew’s Global Attitudes Research, the shift reflected declining confidence in Washington’s role in maintaining international stability.
“There was only a real relationship between the outbreak of the war and the feeling that the US is simply not contributing to peace and stability and that people have less confidence in Donald Trump,” she was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
The period of exploration coincided with heightened uncertainty and turmoil around the world as the US itself became involved in a military campaign in West Asia against Iran. Other factors hurting Washington’s standing abroad include threats to take control of Greenland, customs disputes with allies and US policy regarding the war between Israel and Hamas.
Read also | The year 2026 will be historic, a landmark for China-US relations: Xi Jinping
The pandemic effect is disappearing, China’s image is improving
China’s improving global image also reflects the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which severely damaged Beijing’s perception in previous years, according to the research.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington welcomed the findings, saying they showed that “China’s achievements in governance and development progress are widely recognized,” the Associated Press report added.
The Allies are moving towards Peking
Some of the most dramatic shifts in opinion have occurred among longtime US allies.
In Canada, favorable views of the US decreased from 57 per cent in 2023 to 33 per cent in 2026, while positive views of China climbed from 14 per cent to 44 per cent over the same period. Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods and repeated remarks suggesting Canada could become the “51st state” coincided with the decline.
Major European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands, have also moved toward a more positive view of China than the United States.
Even in the US, public opinion has narrowed considerably. While Americans viewed their country 32 percentage points more favorably than China three years ago, respondents now rate both countries similarly.
Read also | In the fight against China, the US wants its friends to do more
China is seen as more reliable in many middle-income countries
The survey also found growing support for China’s global role in middle-income countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
A median of 75 percent of respondents in 17 middle-income countries said the U.S. interferes in other countries’ affairs, compared with 45 percent who said the same about China.
Many respondents also identified China as a more reliable partner and more likely than the US to contribute to global peace and stability.
However, the research also mentions that the US is viewed favorably in China’s immediate neighborhood with India, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. China has a territorial dispute with most of these countries.
