Two Decades Of American Goodwill Collapse As China Beats US In Global Favourability Rankings

In a finding described as unprecedented in roughly 20 years of tracking, the Pew Research Center has revealed that China is now viewed more favourably than the United States in 25 of 36 countries and territories surveyed, marking the first time Beijing has ever outpolled Washington across such a broad swath of the globe. More people also express confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping than in US President Donald Trump in 22 of the nations polled, including Canada, Mexico and major European powers such as France, Germany and Britain.

The survey of more than 42,000 adults, conducted between February and May this year, a period overlapping with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, found the shift driven less by China's own improvement than by souring global perceptions of Washington. Pew researcher Laura Silver attributed the reversal to a growing sense that the United States is failing to contribute to global peace and stability, pointing to episodes including Trump's demands over Greenland and a US military raid that captured Venezuela's then leader Nicolás Maduro.

The collapse in American goodwill has been sharpest among longtime allies. In Canada , favourable views of the US plunged from 57 percent in 2023 to just 33 percent this year, while positive views of China nearly tripled from 14 to 44 percent, a shift tied directly to Trump's tariffs and repeated suggestions Canada could become the 51st American state. In Latin America , views of the US worsened in five of six countries surveyed while opinions of China held steady, leaving the two powers now viewed similarly across the region despite China's deep trade ties with Brazil and Peru.

Across 17 middle income countries spanning Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, a median of 75 percent said the US interferes in other nations' affairs, compared to just 45 percent who said the same of China. The United States retained an edge in only six countries, four in Asia Pacific, namely India , Japan , the Philippines and South Korea , where lingering territorial disputes with Beijing continue to shape opinion. Washington still leads on personal freedoms, with 39 percent saying it respects citizens' liberties compared to 26 percent for China, though even that gap has narrowed sharply since 2021. The White House had not responded to requests for comment on the findings.