China just scored a first in global opinion polling—and it comes at America's expense. A new Pew Research Center survey of more than 42,000 people in 36 countries finds China is now viewed more favorably than the US in 25 of them, the first time Pew has recorded such a tilt since it began tracking views of the two powers in 2002, per the BBC. Sentiment toward China has climbed to record levels in countries including Italy, Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, and Nigeria, while favorable views of the US have steadily declined. Only six countries in the survey—Poland, the Philippines, South Korea, India, Japan, and Israel—view the US more favorably. As Pew explains, even "Americans' nearest neighbors," Canadians and Mexicans, view China more positively than the US.
Neither leader comes out looking strong: Confidence in both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump is low overall, though Xi scores higher in 22 of the 36 countries, including Mexico, Canada, the UK, France, and Germany, per the Guardian. The US is still more trusted to protect personal freedoms, but more people see Washington as meddling abroad—three-quarters say the US interferes "a great deal" or "a fair amount," versus 45% who say the same of China. Analyst Chong Ja Ian ties the shift partly to what he calls the volatility and economic fallout of recent US actions, while describing China as more predictable, if still led by a "major authoritarian figure," per the BBC. This follows polling from Gallup, which found China has a five-point advantage over the US in global approval ratings—the widest gap "in nearly 20 years."
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