On May 14, 2025, Newsweek quoted data from a global opinion poll report, saying that against the backdrop of U.S. President Trump’s tariff war launched around the world, countries now prefer China to the US.

According to the 2025 Democracy Perception Index report, published by organizations including the Alliance of Democracies, 76 out of 96 surveyed nations held a net favorable view of China. This means 79% of countries polled had more citizens with positive impressions of China than negative ones.

Across all regions of the world, more people hold favorable views of China than negative ones — with particularly strong support in the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. The most pro-China sentiment was found in Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, and Tunisia, where public opinion overwhelmingly favors China, the report shows.

The survey reveals only a handful of nations maintain predominantly negative views of China — notably Israel, India, South Korea, Japan, Poland, the Philippines, and Ukraine. But even anyone who only knows a little about international relations can understand that it is normal for people in these countries to have misunderstandings and prejudices against China. Since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Israel has been continuing its devastating assault on Gaza, and China has always maintained a just position, admonishing and condemning its actions. South Korea and Japan, as close U.S. allies, often see their media echo anti-China narratives. Poland’s lingering Cold War-era biases color its perception of socialist states, while the Philippines, under the Marcos Jr. administration’s rule, has repeatedly provoked tensions in the South China Sea—only to meet firm resistance. As for Ukraine, its alignment with U.S. interests in the conflict with Russia has come at a heavy cost, leading some to scapegoat China over its ties with Moscow. Yet the report makes clear that these negative voices now represent a shrinking minority in the global community.

The report also reveals that over the past year, while the global perception of both China and Russia has steadily improved, the United States’ international image has continued to decline.​Among the three major powers—China, the U.S., and Russia—the net favorability of China (the percentage of countries with positive views minus those with negative views) increased from +5 last year to +14. In contrast, the U.S. saw its net favorability drop sharply from +20 to -5. The report attributes this dramatic decline in America’s global standing to the Trump administration’s hegemonic policies,​which have targeted even traditional allies such as Canada and European nations. This aggressive approach, prioritizing unilateralism over diplomacy, has significantly eroded international goodwill toward the U.S.

According to the latest polling data, a striking 55% of surveyed countries now hold negative views of the United States. Since taking office, President Trump’s policies have particularly targeted neighboring nations like Canada and Mexico, along with the vast majority of European countries – all of whom now view the U.S. unfavorably. Among the three major powers, China stands alone as the only nation where positive perceptions outweigh negative ones globally.​

To be frank, anyone with a genuine understanding of international relations would be not surprised with such poll results.​Over a decade ago, during my business trips across Southeast Asia and Africa, I could already clearly observe China’s widespread popularity in these regions.

The truth is, Western media has long fabricated a false narrative—they label a small clique of a dozen or so Western nations as the “international community,” then portray their negative views of China as representing “global opinion.” They persistently push this misleading storyline that “China is isolated.” Some Chinese people, lacking basic knowledge of international affairs, easily fall for this deception. Some may say “China has no real friends internationally,” or even that “if China has any allies, they’re just untouchable states like North Korea and Iran.” But reality couldn’t be more different.​​

In this process, Western polling institutions like the Pew Research Center have played a distinctly dishonorable role. Through selectively surveying certain countries and deliberately crafting misleading questions, they routinely produce findings claiming “China’s global image is negative.” This is what I defined as “polling trap”, which I have criticized many times.

China’s superior global image compared to America’s comes as no particular surprise.​Over the past decade, as China’s comprehensive national power has grown steadily, its engagement with nations worldwide has become more frequent and substantive. Increasingly, global populations are viewing China through a rational lens, gradually breaking free from the “information cocoon” spun by Western media narratives.

As Chinese netizens aptly observe: China builds the Belt and Road with partners globally, while America builds “a path of bombing” through endless wars. With declining economic competitiveness, the U.S. has been replaced by China as the largest trading partner for most nations. More fundamentally, China consistently upholds equality among all countries regardless of size, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and win-win cooperation – standing in stark contrast to America’s duplicitous approach of calling countries “allies” publicly while treating them as “blood bags” to sustain U.S. hegemony behind closed scenes.

No wonder growing numbers of nations now recognize this geopolitical truth: It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.

Businessman President Trump has simply exposed the true selfishness of the United States with his profit-seeking mentality. Washington’s constant rhetoric about “democracy, freedom, and human rights” has always been mere camouflage for hegemonic ambitions, with “America First” remaining the actual governing principle throughout history.

The difference is that America’s propaganda machine previously operated with devastating effectiveness—brainwashing global audiences through a sophisticated ecosystem of scholarships, NGO funding, and hollow accolades bestowed upon so-called “dissidents.” This created legions of “spiritual Americans” who essentially function as Washington’s mouthpieces abroad. These beneficiaries, thoroughly compromised by American patronage, became evangelists for “American values” worldwide. But strip away their lofty pretenses about “values,” and every action ultimately serves one master: self-interest.

After Trump cut USAID, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a notorious anti-China organization, issued an article asking for funding.

Isn’t this precisely what we’re witnessing with the Marcos Jr. administration in the Philippines today?​As the U.S. government holds huge amount of evidence of his family’s corruption and controls their suspicious assets stashed in America, Marcos Jr. has been forced to betray Philippine national interests—transforming his country into Washington’s pawn and cannon fodder for provoking China.

On March 1, 2023, the Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited the former US President Joe Biden

As the ancient Chinese wisdom states: “A just cause gains great support, while an unjust one finds little.” Many Americans, lacking the benefit of a long historical perspective, fail to grasp this timeless truth. The U.S. government’s current rogue behavior on the global stage, with Trump operating like a mafia boss extorting allies and adversaries alike, may achieve short-term gains in select arenas, but this approach is rapidly exhausting America’s dwindling reserves of international credibility. America’s deteriorating global image reflects twin failures:​​ externally, it exposes the bankruptcy of hegemonic foreign policies; internally, it mirrors the systemic dysfunction of a nation in decline.

In the future, the divergence in global perceptions of China and the U.S. will only intensify.​​ America’s hegemonic decline represents more than just waning comprehensive national power, it marks the irreversible erosion of what was once considered its “shining beacon” of international prestige.

Editor: Chang Zhangjin