Foreign Affairs

Longtime US European Allies Now View China Better, New Poll Shows

Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok

Many countries — including longtime European allies — view China more favorably than the U.S., according to a Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday.

Pew surveyed residents of 36 countries on China and the U.S., finding that many — including those in Italy, Spain, France, the U.K. and Canada — view the Communist Party-controlled nation more favorably.

Italy, a longtime U.S. ally, views China better by a 20-percentage-point margin, according to Pew’s poll. Spain and Greece also preferred President Xi Jinping’s country by 24 points and 18 points, respectively.

Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, is leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, and had been generally seen as an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump — although they have clashed in recent weeks over the Iran war. Spain and Greece have also been longtime U.S. allies, according to the Department of State.

Other longtime U.S. allies also favored China according to the poll. This includes Canada (by an 11-point margin), France and the Netherlands (both by nine points), as well as Australia (by seven points) and the U.K. (by five points).

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made headlines in January after he praised China and declared a “new world order” while talking about his partnership with the communist country.

“We’re heartened by the leadership of [Chinese] President Xi Jinping and the speed with which our relationship has progressed,” Carney said at the time during his trip to Beijing.

Later that day, the government of the U.S.’ northern neighbor announced a “new strategic partnership” with China focused on “energy, agri-food, and trade.”

Pew’s poll also shows many countries — including Italy, Greece, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K. — have more confidence in Xi than in Trump.

The U.S., Italy, France, the U.K. and the Netherlands were among the 12 original members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Of the three dozen countries Pew polled, only Israel, Japan, India, South Korea, the Philippines, Poland, Hungary, Ghana and Brazil favored the U.S. over China.

Israel views the United States the most favorable with 81% having a favorable opinion. Israel views the U.S. significantly better than any other country polled, by 13%.

Pew collected the data for its survey between March 23 to March 29. Surveys were conducted by self-administered web surveys or live telephone interviewing. Data from the poll comes from Wave 190 of the American Trends Panel. A total of 3,507 individuals participated in the polling. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, according to the Pew Research Center Methodology.