Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden during the G20 summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian island of Bali on November 14, 2022.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
Most countries They prefer to align with the United States rather than China when the White House is occupied by a Democrat, according to Gallup poll data dating back to 2007.
“Many more countries appear to prefer American leadership over Chinese leadership, at least under Democratic administrations,” Gallup said in a report released Monday, adding that a Republican executive presents a “clear approval disadvantage.”
The Gallup report shows that in 2023, almost half (48%) of the world’s countries leaned toward the United States over China – which was favored by 21% of the more than 130 countries surveyed . More than a fifth of countries are found to be “strongly aligned” with the United States, the highest rate since 2009.
During most of the Trump administration, a greater proportion of countries were friendly to China, which changed with Democrat Joe Biden taking office in early 2021.
“The magnitude of these changes becomes clear when comparing country alignments over the years,” the global analytics and consulting firm said, citing similar party-related trends during the administrations of George Bush and by Barack Obama.
The trend described by Gallup suggests that America’s influence in the world could depend on the upcoming highly contentious presidential rematch between Biden and Trump.
Ahead of the election, both candidates displayed a tough stance on China, with a growing number of Americans viewing Beijing as an enemy rather than a competitor or partner, according to a Pew Research poll released last week.
According to Gallup, the “rebound” under the Biden administration suggests that the United States’ net advantage over China is resilient, particularly when more strongly aligned groups are taken into account.
Although China made short-term gains in relative alignment under Trump, most fell into the “weakly aligned” category. said.
At the same time, U.S. leaders enjoyed overall net approval ratings under the Biden and Obama administrations, compared to net disapproval ratings under Trump and the last two years under Bush’s leadership, the report said.
However, in the struggle for global influence, the world’s two economic superpowers have experienced a trend toward disillusionment in one form or another in recent years.
The Gallup analysis showed that since 2017, more countries disapproved of Chinese and American leaders than approved of them, with 2021 being an exception. The disapproval rating was highest during the Trump administration, peaking in 2020 at 48%.
Although that proportion has declined under the Biden administration, it remains roughly double what it was under most of the Obama administration., » said Gallup.
“This trend toward an increasing number of countries expressing net negative approval of U.S. and Chinese leaders suggests a growing lack of enthusiasm for these two global powers,” he adds.
The United States has lost much of its relative favor with China in countries like Russia and some countries in Africa. On the other hand, it has progressed in certain countries affected by the invasion of Ukraine, such as Poland, and in several Asian countries.
Although it has won the approval of Southeast Asian countries, such as the Philippines, a majority of countries in the region will likely align with China and not the United States if forced to choose sides, according to a regional survey conducted earlier this year.
Among the countries identified as world leaders in Gallup’s latest “Rating World Leaders” report, Germany comes out on top ahead of the United States and China with an approval rate of 46%. The world’s third-largest economy had the highest approval ratings in Europe and Asia.
cnbc
