Global Opinions on the U.S.-China Relationship Richard Wike Director of Global Attitudes Research
Pew Research Center Funded largely by the Pew Charitable Trusts Non-profit, non-partisan fact tank in Washington Research areas U.S. domestic politics Media & news Social trends Religion and public life Internet and technology Hispanics Global public opinion Since 2002, Pew has surveyed in 82 countries www.pewresearch.org 2
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CHINA S IMAGE 4
October 23, 2014 5 www.pewresearch.org Views of China 35% 78 77 74 72 66 56 38 31 16 7 49 47 47 39 32 28 26 64 64 55% 3 22 17 17 25 42 58 39 78 91 46 38 53 55 52 64 70 21 28 U.S. Pakistan Bangladesh Malaysia Thailand Indonesia South Korea Philippines India Vietnam Japan Greece UK France Spain Poland Germany Italy Ukraine Russia Unfavorable Favorable
Views of China Unfavorable Favorable Tunisia Palest. ter. Lebanon Israel Egypt Jordan Turkey 63 68 50 53 44 21% 29 21 35 53 49 46 64% 61 Venezuela Chile Nicaragua Peru El Salvador Brazil Mexico Argentina Colombia 44 38 30 32 26 27 27 25 19 48 44 43 40 38 60 58 56 67 Tanzania Kenya Senegal Nigeria Uganda Ghana South Africa 40 10 16 12 14 18 23 45 61 61 77 74 71 70 6
Americans Express Increasingly Negative Views about China 75% U.S. views of China Unfavorable 43 52 42 42 50 49 51 40 52 55 35 29 39 39 38 36 36 40 37 35 Favorable 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 7
Age Gap on Views of China in Many Countries Favorable view of China by age 18-29 30-49 50+ Youngest - oldest gap % % % France 61 48 41 +20 UK 60 48 40 +20 Mexico 52 45 32 +20 U.S. 46 39 26 +20 Brazil 53 43 36 +17 Spain 50 40 34 +16 Venezuela 72 70 57 +15 Senegal 75 70 61 +14 Peru 65 54 51 +14 South Africa 49 48 35 +14 Tanzania 80 78 67 +13 Ukraine 71 66 58 +13 Israel 54 52 41 +13 8
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Which Country Is Greatest Ally/Threat? Top choice (%) Views in: Ally Threat Bangladesh U.S. (43%) India (27%) China Russia (25) U.S. (36) India U.S. (33) Pakistan (45) Indonesia U.S. (28) U.S. (25) Japan U.S. (62) China (68) Malaysia China (27) U.S. (26) Pakistan China (57) U.S. (38) Philippines U.S. (83) China (58) South Korea U.S. (68) North Korea (36) Thailand U.S. (29) Cambodia (11) Vietnam U.S. (30) China (74) U.S. Britain (31) Russia (23) 10
Many Say China s Growing Economy Is Good for Own Country Overall, do you think China s growing economy is a good thing or a bad thing for our country? U.S. 42% Bad thing Good thing 49% Thailand Bangladesh Malaysia Pakistan South Korea Indonesia Japan Philippines India Vietnam 71 57 46 39 36 28 22 14 8 8 23 21 30 47 62 57 55 75 70 69 UK Greece Germany France Spain Poland Italy 75 53 53 45 46 28 30 14 26 57 52 51 47 44 Russia Ukraine 27 15 40 47 11
Many Say China s Growing Economy Is Good for Own Country Overall, do you think China s growing economy is a good thing or a bad thing for our country? Bad thing Good thing Tunisia Lebanon Israel Jordan Palest. ter. Egypt Turkey 57 42 37 18% 27 21 22 24 66% 64 62 58 53 53 Nicaragua Venezuela Chile Peru El Salvador Argentina Brazil Mexico Colombia 41 36 45 20 23 26 20 13 13 30 41 39 38 54 54 66 63 74 Kenya Uganda Senegal Nigeria Tanzania Ghana South Africa 36 22 24 13 10 12 8 12 41 52 68 66 80 76 75
VIEWS OF THE U.S. October 23, 2014 13 www.pewresearch.org
Western Europe Much More Confident in Obama 100 % Confidence in U.S. president to do the right thing in world affairs 80 60 51 83 74 71 58 France UK Germany Spain 40 20 30 20 26 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 George W. Bush Barack Obama 14
October 23, 2014 15 www.pewresearch.org Views of U.S. 6% 17 18 22 15 30 33 16 40 43 59 18 25 19 27 34 47 63 35 71 92% 82 76 76 73 66 59 55 51 50 14 78 75 73 66 60 51 34 57 23 Philippines South Korea Vietnam Bangladesh Thailand Japan Indonesia India Malaysia China Pakistan Italy France Poland UK Spain Germany Greece Ukraine Russia Favorable Unfavorable
Views of U.S. Israel Tunisia Lebanon Palest. ter. Turkey Jordan Egypt 85 85 66 73 57 47 Unfavorable 16% Favorable 12 10 19 30 42 41 84% El Salvador Chile Nicaragua Peru Brazil Colombia Mexico Venezuela Argentina 44 15 19 18 23 27 22 31 31 36 72 71 65 65 64 63 62 80 Kenya Ghana Tanzania Senegal Nigeria South Africa Uganda 12 9 14 11 16 19 23 80 77 75 74 69 68 62 16
Age Gap on Views of U.S. in Many Countries Favorable view of U.S. by age 18-29 30-49 50+ Youngest - oldest gap % % % Vietnam 89 74 64 +25 Thailand 87 71 65 +22 China 60 50 39 +21 Tanzania 81 74 62 +19 Mexico 71 65 52 +19 Senegal 80 76 62 +18 Peru 75 63 58 +17 Brazil 73 63 57 +16 Japan 75 74 60 +15 Ukraine 67 56 53 +14 South Africa 74 65 61 +13 Spain 72 55 59 +13 India 59 55 47 +12 Argentina 41 40 29 +12 Jordan 17 11 5 +12 17
Most Around the World Oppose U.S. Drone Strikes Disapprove Approve Latin America Middle East 86% 84 7 9% Asia 74 12 Europe 72 27 Africa 47 29 U.S. 41 52 Israel 27 65 Note: Regional medians. Europe median excludes Russia and Ukraine. Middle East median excludes Israel. 18
Widespread Opposition to U.S. Surveillance Is U.S. monitoring of acceptable or unacceptable? Citizens from your country 81% Leaders of your country 73 American citizens 62 Terrorist suspects 64 12% 20 31 29 Acceptable Unacceptable Note: Percentages are global medians excluding the U.S. 19
Eroding Faith that U.S. Protects Personal Freedoms of Its People U.S. government respects personal freedoms 2013 2014 Change % % El Salvador 79 50-29 Brazil 76 51-25 Germany 81 58-23 Pakistan 54 31-23 Argentina 54 32-22 Russia 67 47-20 South Africa 70 52-18 Nigeria 70 53-17 Mexico 55 38-17 Greece 58 43-15 Chile 66 53-13 Malaysia 63 50-13 Spain 69 57-12 France 80 69-11 UK 75 65-10 Uganda 70 60-10 20
But Most Still Say U.S. Respects Personal Freedoms Does the government of respect the personal freedoms of its people? U.S. 58% France 56 China* 36 Russia 28 Note: Percentages are global medians saying yes. *Not asked in China. 21
Views of U.S. Culture, Ideas Positive Negative 73 65 68 23 32 45 48 43 43 26 U.S. technological & scientific advances U.S. music, movies & TV U.S. ideas about democracy U.S. ways of doing business U.S. ideas & customs spreading here World medians based on 20 countries surveyed in 2012 (not including U.S.). 2012 Pew Global Attitudes survey. 22
Young Chinese Embrace American Soft Power Views of American soft power by age 18-29 30-49 50+ 59% 55% 40% 56 43 30 48 50 45 44 36 34 Like U.S. ideas about democracy Like U.S. pop culture Source: Spring 2012 Global Attitudes survey. Like U.S. business practices Diffusion of U.S. ideas is good 23
THE EVOLVING BALANCE OF POWER: U.S. VS. CHINA 24
Worldwide China Gaining on U.S. as Top Economic Power Today, which one of the following do you think is the world s leading economic power? 49% U.S. China 40 31 19% 2008 2014 Note: Median percentages based on the 20 countries surveyed in both 2008 and 2014. 25
Europeans Say It Is China Today, which one of the following do you think is the world s leading economic power? U.S. China 2008 2014 Change 2008 2014 Change % % % Spain 42 31-11 % % % 24 49 +25 UK 44 34-10 France 44 37-7 Germany 25 20-5 29 49 +20 31 51 +20 30 49 +19 26
Asia: U.S. Still Seen as World s Leading Economy Today, which one of the following do you think is the world s leading economic power? U.S. China Japan EU Other/None/ Don t know % % % % % Philippines 68 14 13 2 4 Bangladesh 62 20 6 8 3 South Korea 60 32 1 5 2 Japan 59 23 4 7 6 Vietnam 56 11 14 10 10 China 55 25 1 6 12 India 47 13 7 1 33 Indonesia 47 27 12 3 12 Malaysia 40 31 13 2 14 Pakistan 35 30 1 1 33 Thailand 30 34 18 6 12 MEDIAN 55 25 7 5 12 Note: Bolded figures represent statistically significant majorities or pluralities. 27
Globally China Seen Replacing U.S. as World Superpower Which comes closer to your view? China will never replace U.S. China will eventually replace/has replaced U.S. 50 39% 41% 32 2008 2014 Note: Median percentages based on the 20 countries surveyed in both 2008 and 2014. 28
AMERICAN VIEWS OF U.S. POWER & ROLE IN THE WORLD 29
Nearly Half of Americans Say U.S. Is Less Important as a World Leader Than It Was a Decade Ago Compared with 10 years ago, the U.S. role as a world leader today is 60 40 28 27 20 % 39 44 27 25 31 45 20 17 53 48 34 27 15 Less important and powerful As important and powerful More important and powerful 0 1974 1984 1994 2004 2014 Survey conducted August 20-24, 2014. Other/Don t know response not shown. Pew Research Center/USA Today. 30
CFR Members, Like Public, Say U.S. Power Has Declined Compared with 10 years ago, the U.S. role as a world leader today is Less important More important As important 62% 48 30% 34 7% 15 CFR Elites General Public CFR data from 2013 America s Place in the World survey. General public survey conducted August 20-24, 2014 with Pew Research Center/USA Today. 31
All Pew Research Center reports and data are available online at www.pewresearch.org 32