A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center reveals that more than 40% of Americans now view China as an enemy, marking a significant increase from just a quarter of Americans who held this opinion two years ago. This is the highest level of negative sentiment towards China in the past five years. The majority of Americans, 50%, perceive China as a competitor, while only 6% consider the country a partner. The Biden administration is currently working to stabilize U.S.-China relations to prevent potential clashes, while also addressing issues such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, Taiwan, and human rights.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have recently visited China as part of the administration’s efforts to manage competition with Beijing in a responsible manner. Despite these diplomatic efforts, President Joe Biden continues to compete with former President Donald Trump, who has taken a tough stance on China. The Pew report, based on a survey of 3,600 U.S. adults, indicates that roughly half of Americans believe limiting China’s power and influence should be a top U.S. foreign policy priority, with only 8% disagreeing.
For the fifth consecutive year, about eight in 10 Americans hold an unfavorable view of China, with 81% of U.S. adults expressing negative opinions of the country. Nearly half of Americans view Chinese President Xi Jinping unfavorably, with about 10% indicating they have never heard of him. The negative attitudes towards China have intensified since the launch of a trade war in 2018 and the emergence of COVID-19, which originated in China. Concerns about Beijing’s human rights record, closeness to Russia, and policies towards Taiwan and Hong Kong have further fueled Americans’ negative perceptions of China.
The U.S. government has openly acknowledged its competition with China on economic and diplomatic fronts. According to the Pew report, 42% of Americans now consider China an enemy of the U.S., the highest level recorded since 2021. Republican and Republican-leaning independents are more likely to view China as an enemy, with 59% holding this opinion compared to 28% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning individuals. Older Americans, conservative Republicans, and those with negative views of the U.S. economy are more critical of China and tend to label the country as an enemy.
The survey also found that Americans hold more negative views of China when they perceive China’s influence in the world as growing stronger or believe that China has significant sway over the U.S. economy. Pessimism about the U.S. economy is linked to unfavorable perceptions of China, with individuals who view the economic situation in the U.S. as poor more likely to see China as an enemy. The Pew research was based on a nationally representative sample of 3,600 respondents who completed online surveys, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
