China’s leaders are most
popular in Africa, but face high disapproval ratings in the West and parts of
Asia.
Gallup
has released a new poll on global public opinion regarding the leadership of
U.S., China, Russia, the EU, and Germany. While most media coverage, including Gallup’s own summary,
focused on the perceptions of the U.S. and Russia, the survey also contains
interesting tidbits about how the world views China’s top leadership under
President Xi Jinping. The data mostly serves to reinforce expectations – that
China is more popular in the developing worlds (particularly among African
countries) and is looked on with suspicion by the West.
According
to Gallup’s introduction to the poll, the survey asked “people in 135 countries
how they feel about the job performance of U.S. leadership… [and] how they feel
about the leadership of the European Union, Germany, Russia, and China.” Data
was gathered in almost all of North and South America, Europe, and Oceania. A
majority of African countries were included as well, but Libya, Morocco, the
Central African Republic, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe were not polled. In Asia,
notable omissions were Saudi Arabia, Oman, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and,
interestingly, China itself.
“Residents
in China are not asked to rate their own country’s leadership or that of other
countries because of the sensitive nature of the question,” Gallup said. It’s
safe to assume that, had Chinese poll data been taken and incorporated, the
U.S. rating would have taken a hit and Russia and China both would likely have
moved up in the rankings – but given the number of countries polled, the end
data (based on a median ranking in all countries surveyed) would not have been
greatly affected.
As of
2014, U.S. leadership has the highest approval rating at 45 percent, followed
by Germany (41 percent), the EU (39 percent), China, (29 percent) and Russia
(22 percent). International approval ratings for China have dropped
significantly from a high of 40 percent in 2008 (the year Beijing hosted the
Summer Olympic Games) and has held steady at 29 percent approval for the past
three years.
Interestingly,
however, China’s low approval ratings are mirrored by low disapproval ratings,
with only 28 percent of people saying they actively disapproved of China’s
leadership. Gallup concludes that “China’s leadership is the least well-known
worldwide (the median with no opinion is 32 percent).”
As the
report notes, opinions of China vary wildly. From 2013 to 2014, there were
double-digit declines in Xi and company’s approval rating in nine countries,
but also double-digits gains in four countries (notably Russia, where
China received just a 25 percent approval rating in 2013 but scored 42 percent
in 2014).
China is
especially popular on the African continent, where Beijing’s leaders enjoys a
majority approval rating in many countries. The 11 countries giving China the
highest marks are all located in western and central Africa. In total, 22
countries had a majority of respondents approve of China’s leadership – and 20
of these were countries in Africa, with the other two (Pakistan and Tajikistan)
in Asia.
At the
same time, however, China’s approval ratings in some African countries cratered
from 2013 to 2014. In Ethiopia, approval of China’s leaders plummeted 31
percentage points, ending at 18 percent. Gabon, Tanzania, Uganda, and Guinea
also registered double-digit percentage point drops in China’s approval rating
(although Beijing still enjoys a rating of 50 percent or better in Tanzania,
Gabon, and Guinea).
Though
China doesn’t reach majority approvals in most of the world, it does enjoy
higher approval ratings in the developing world. Latin American, Central Asian,
and Eastern European countries generally rated China more highly than did
Western Europe and the U.S. The notable exception to the trend is found in
China’s own backyard, where a number of regional states (including India,
Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Indonesia) gave Beijing approval
ratings roughly on par with U.S. residents’ opinions. However, China’s near
neighbors are clearly split — other countries (like Pakistan, Cambodia, and
Malaysia) think more highly China’s leaders.
Overall,
though, China’s disapproval ratings are highest in Europe and the United
States. Interestingly, Germany gives China the highest disapproval rating (78
percent), higher than either the U.S. (70 percent) or Japan (67 percent). There
are 28 countries or regions where a majority of residents disapprove of China’s
leaders, with almost all being Western countries. The three exceptions are all
located within Asia — Japan, the Philippines, and (worryingly for Beijing) Hong
Kong. The Diplomat By Shannon Tiezzi
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