Negative attitude towards China high in Australia says Pew Research

China has been increasingly viewed negatively in recent times by most advanced economies with an unfavourable opinion of the Asian country rising most in Australia according to a new survey by Pew Research Center.

The survey conducted in 14 countries- Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, South Korea, Spain, France, Canada ,Italy, Japan, Belguim and Denmark was released on Tuesday.

"Negative views of China increased most in Australia, where 81 per cent now say see the country unfavourably, up 24 percentage points since last year. In the UK, around three-quarters now see the country in a negative light - up 19 points. And, in the U.S., negative views of China have increased nearly 20 percentage points since President Donald Trump took office, rising 13 points since just last year," the survey read.

The rise corresponds with increased tensions following Australia-led the call for an international investigation into the origin of coronavirus. China responded on the trade front, banning imports of Australian barley, beef and wine.

According to the research, most negative reviews of China's COVID-19 response come from three nations in the AsiaPacific region. "More than seven-in-ten in Japan, South Korea and Australia say China has done a bad job dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, including more than four-in-ten in each country who say they did a very bad job," the research added.

The findings of the survey reported that the trust on Chinese President Xi Jinping has plunged over the last 12 months with over 77 people surveyed in the US expressing that they have no confidence in Xi in "doing the right thing" in global affairs.

According to the research orgsation, the rise in unfavourable views comes amid widespread criticism over how China has handled the coronavirus pandemic.

"Around a third or more in Belgium, Denmark, the UK, Sweden, Canada, the U.S., Australia and Japan also have very unfavourable views of China. In both the UK and Australia, this is more than twice as many as said they had very unfavourable views of China last year," it further reported.

Pew Research further reported that in Australia - where efforts to investigate China's role in the spread of COVID-19 have led to heated trade frictions - negative views of China have gone up 24 percentage points since 2019. This is also the largest year-on-year change in Australia since the question was first asked in 2008.

It further stated that in Australia, 68 per cent of those under 30 have an unfavourable view of China, compared with 86 per cent of those ages 50 and older. "This also marks the first year in which a majority of younger Australians have an unfavourable view of China; in 2019, 45% of those under 30 reported the same," it added.

The research also pointed out that close to half in Japan and Australia also say they have "no confidence at" all in Xi. " In Australia, for example, 54 per cent had little or no confidence in Xi in 2019, and now 79 per cent say the same, a 25 percentage point increase," it reported further.

( With inputs from ANI )