On the eve of President Donald Trump‘s first face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a new survey has found that Americans’ feelings towards the top Communist leader was “largely negative”.
“President Xi gets largely negative ratings from Americans: 60 per cent have not too much or no confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs,”
according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center.
Just 31 percent say they have a lot or at least some confidence in 63-year-old Xi, also General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
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A key meeting of the CPC last October elevated Xi as China’s “core” leader, a level comparable with that of the country’s revolutionary leader Mao Zedong .
Trump, 70, will host Xi at the President’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for two days from tomorrow for a series of high-stakes sit-downs.
The survey also points out that the share of the American public which views China as “primarily a military threat” has also risen over time, from 28 percent in 2012 to 36 percent now.
If an Asian ally such as Japan, South Korea, or the Philippines were to become embroiled in a military conflict with China, most Americans (58 percent) would back the use of force against Beijing. Nearly two-in-three Republicans (65 percent) and 62 percent of independents hold this view. And by a 52 percent – 39 percent margin, Democrats also favor using force to defend an Asian ally.
Military tensions between Washington and Beijing have risen in recent years, primarily related to US commitments to its allies in the region.
The US has attempted to pressure China to act on controlling its ally North Korea‘s nuclear weapons programme, with Trump saying this week that he would go it alone if necessary.
The survey also found that all is not gloomy for China in the minds of Americans.
Over the past year, Americans’ stance toward China has softened, it said.
The survey found that 44 percent of Americans have a favourable opinion of China, up from 37 percent a year ago.
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The growth in positive ratings for China may be due in part to declining concerns about economic threats from China, it said.
The share of the public that sees the amount of US debt held by Beijing, the loss of jobs to China and the trade deficit with China as very serious problems has dropped significantly in recent years.
For example, 61 percent said the trade deficit was a very serious problem in 2012, compared with 44 percent today. Concerns about Chinese cyber attacks have, on the other hand, risen to 55 per cent from 50 per cent five years ago.
Ahead of his meeting with Xi, Trump had said that “we can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses.”
He also signed two executive orders recently aimed at combating trade practices the White House said are abusive. But analysts warn that attempts to persuade American firms to make their goods somewhere other than China could backfire, and there is no guarantee they will bring factories back to the US.
Producing more of those goods in the US would create low- paying jobs, but it would also make them more expensive, pushing up the cost of living for Americans.
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“On balance, Americans today tend to be more concerned about China’s economic strength than its military prowess,” Pew report said.
Military tensions between Washington and Beijing have risen in recent years, primarily related to US commitments to its allies in the region.
The US has attempted to pressure China to exert pressure on its ally North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, with Trump saying this week that he would go it alone if necessary.
Pew surveyed 1,505 people in the United States from February 16 to March 15 for the poll, which has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.