China Edges U.S. in Global Favorability: Pew
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- Pew Research Center found China is now viewed more favorably than the U.S. in 25 of 36 countries surveyed — the first time in roughly 20 years of polling that China has overtaken the U.S. in median favorability, associate director Laura Silver told AFP.
- Among the 20 countries Pew has surveyed annually since 2023, Xi Jinping holds a 10-point higher median confidence rating than Trump, reversing a Biden-era trend, though many respondents lack confidence in either leader.
- The U.S. leads China in favorability in only six countries: India, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and two others.
- In Canada, U.S. favorability plunged from 57% in 2023 to 33% in 2026, while China's rose from 14% to 44% — a pattern mirrored across France, Germany and the U.K.
- Interviews ran Feb. 8 to May 13, 2026 — the same window during which the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes on Iran — and Silver told AFP there was a clear link between the outbreak of war and eroding confidence in Trump and the U.S.
- The U.S. still outscores China on respecting personal freedoms, but that lead is shrinking sharply — Sweden's share saying the U.S. respects personal freedoms fell from 61% to 27%, with similar drops in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea and Spain.
- Among 17 middle-income countries, a median of 75% say the U.S. interferes in other countries' affairs, compared with just 45% who say the same about China.
Why it matters: The 20-year threshold matters: Pew has tracked global opinion across administrations and this is the first flip, with the drop concentrated in core U.S. allies — Canada's U.S. favorability fell 24 points since 2023, Sweden 34 points on personal freedoms. The survey window overlapped directly with the U.S.–Israel strikes on Iran, and Pew's own researcher drew the causal line between that war and eroding confidence in the U.S. as a partner for peace and stability.
