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Americans like China more than Donald Trump, poll reveals

Some 44 per cent of Americans view China favourably but as little as 34 per cent feel the same about their commander-in-chief

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The Independent US
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Donald Trump is less popular than what he thinks is America's worst enemy Getty

China is now more popular among Americans than their own president, according to the latest polling. 

Despite being cast as a bête noire coming to take American jobs during Donald Trump’s election campaign, the number of people who have a favourable impression of Beijing has risen seven per cent over the past year. 

A Pew Research Centre survey of 1,505 respondents between 16 February and 15 March found 44 per cent of people now had a favourable view of China compared to 37 per cent this time last year.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s approval ratings have crashed to the lowest they have ever been for any president at this point in their first term. 

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His approval ratings have dipped below 40 per cent after just over two months in the Oval Office – with one poll putting it as low as 34 per cent. 

The former reality star’s presidency has been marred by controversy after controversy, including the fallout from the “Muslim ban” which has been the subject of repeated court bans and the ongoing investigation by the House Intelligence Committee into whether Trump officials colluded with Russian agents during the election campaign.

Mr Trump’s first National Security Adviser, General Michael Flynn, was forced to resign only three weeks into the job after he failed to disclose his meetings with Russian officials during the campaign.

The new Attorney General Jeff Sessions was similarly forced to recuse himself from the Russian investigation after it emerged he had met with Russian officials and failed to tell the House during his confirmation hearing.

World news in pictures

World news in pictures

  • 1/38 10 April 2017

    A flower covered police car is pictured at the site where a truck drove into a department store in Stockholm, Sweden

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    A woman lays flowers to commemorate the victims of Friday's terror attack at a makeshift memorial near the site where a truck drove into Ahlens department store in Stockholm, Sweden

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    NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough being carried into a medical tent shortly after he, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos landed in their Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Dzhezkazgan (Zhezkazgan), Kazakhstan

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    The International Space Station (ISS) crew members NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, surrounded by ground personnel, rest shortly after the landing of Russia's Soyuz MS-02 space capsule near the town of Dzhezkazgan (Zhezkazgan), Kazakhstan

    Reuters

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    Egyptians carry the coffin of policewoman Brigadier Nagwa el-Haggar during her funeral, after she died during a blast that struck outside the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate headquarters in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria

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    Women cry outside the funeral for those killed in a Palm Sunday church attack in Alexandria Egypt, at the Mar Amina church

    AP

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    Mourners pray next to coffins of victims of the blast at the Coptic Christian Saint Mark's church in Alexandria the previous day during a funeral procession at the Monastery of Marmina in the city of Borg El-Arab, east of Alexandria

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  • 8/38 9 April 2017

    A person walks past posters for 'Reporters without borders' that refers to the French presidential election campaign in the district of Montmartre in Paris

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    A couple take a photo of the sunset from Dune of Pyla, the tallest sand dune in Europe, in Pyla-sur-Mer, southwest France

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    A family watch the sunset from Dune of Pyla, the tallest sand dune in Europe, in Pyla-sur-Mer

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    People watch a live performance under illuminated cherry blossoms on the final day of the cherry blossom festival in Yeouido, central Seoul, South Korea

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    Imam-i-Kaaba Saleh bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim al-Talib (Saudi Arabian Imam of the Grand Mosque in the Islamic holy city of Mecca) waves to supporters at the historical Badshahi Mosque during Maghrib prayer in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

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  • 13/38 9 April 2017

    Saleh bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim al-Talib one of the 10 Imams of the Grand mosque in the Islamic holy city of Mecca, visits Pakistan to meet Pakistani officials, Security has been high alert to avoid untoward incident around the Badshahi Mosque.

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  • 14/38 7 April 2017

    Paramedics work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm

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  • 15/38 7 April 2017

    Reports say three people have died after a truck crashed into an Ahlens department store in Stockholm Truck drives into crowds on a street in central Stockholm

    Rex

  • 16/38 7 April 2017

    The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea

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  • 17/38 7 April 2017

    The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province

    EPA

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    Demonstrators pray next to mock coffins during a protest against Russian and Iran in Ankara, Turkey

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    People carry symbolic coffins with pictures of Syrian victims and inscriptions which translates as "killer Asad" and "killer Putin" during a protest against Russia for its alleged role in a chemical attack in the Syrian province of Idlib, in front of the Russian embassy, in Ankara

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  • 20/38 6 April 2017

    A man watches a TV news program reporting about North Korea's missile firing with a file footage, at Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea

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  • 21/38 6 April 2017

    Filipino villagers collect recyclable materials amongst debris following a fire at a shanty town in Bacoor, Cavite province, Philippines

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    According to media reports, more than a thousand familes were left homeless from the fire, which burned around seven hundred shanties. The fire marshal, Superintendent Robert Pacis, stated that the four-hour fire was likely started by children allegedly playing with matches in the house of a person named Raffy Una

    EPA

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    Filipino Eddito Fernandez displays his hands that are covered in dirt as he collects belongings amongst debris following a fire at a shanty town in Bacoor, Cavite province, Philippines

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    Israeli forces stand guard at the scene of a Palestinian car ramming attack near the Jewish settlement of Ofra near the West Bank city of Ramallah

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  • 25/38 6 April 2017

    Israeli soldiers and police arrest a Palestinian attacker at the scene of a car ramming attack near the Israeli settlement of Ofra, north of Ramallah

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    One Israeli was killed and another wounded in a car-ramming attack near the Ofra settlement in the occupied West Bank, the army said. The alleged attacker was arrested, an army statement said, without giving details about him

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  • 27/38 6 April 2017

    Activists of the Basle political action committee 'March against Monsanto and Syngenta' protest in front of the Syngenta headquarters against the acquisition of Syngenta by the Chinese company ChemChina, in Basle, Switzerland

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  • 28/38 5 April 2017

    Universidad de Chile fans clash with the police during a Copa Sudamericana soccer match against Brazil's Corinthians in Sao Paulo, Brazil

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    Universidad de Chile fans scuffle with riot police during their match agains Corinthians at the Arena Corinthians Stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil

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  • 30/38 5 April 2017

    Members of the military police of Sao Paulo clash with supporters of Universidad de Chile before the Copa Sudamericana soccer match between Corinthians and Universidad de Chile at the Arena Itaquera Stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil

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  • 31/38 5 April 2017

    Members of the military police of Sao Paulo clash with supporters of Universidad de Chile before the Copa Sudamericana soccer match between Corinthians and Universidad de Chile at the Arena Itaquera Stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil

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    Jose Adan Salazar Umana, a businessman and alleged leader of the Texis Cartel, one of the largest money laundering and drug trafficking networks in El Salvador, is presented at the headquarters of the National Civil Police in San Salvador, El Salvador

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    Nikki Haley, United States' Ambassador United Nations, shows pictures of Syrian victims of chemical attacks as she addresses a meeting of the Security Council on Syria at U.N. headquarters

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  • 34/38 5 April 2017

    Russia's deputy UN ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov attends the United Nations Security Council meet in an emergency session at the UN in New York, about the suspected deadly chemical attack that killed civilians, including children, in Syria

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    Syrian children, along first aiders and civil defense volunteers, hold placards and photos showing victims of the recent alleged chemical attack Khan Sheikhoun, during a gathering to show solidarity with the victims in Douma, Syria

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  • 36/38 5 April 2017

    Reports state 72 people, including 20 children, were killed in an alleged chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun of Idlib province

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  • 37/38 4 April 2017

    Destruction at a hospital room in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, following a suspected toxic gas attack

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  • 38/38 4 April 2017

    Abdul-Hamid Alyousef, 29, holds his twin babies who were killed during a suspected chemical weapons attack, in Khan Sheikhoun in the northern province of Idlib, Syria. Alyousef also lost his wife, two brothers, nephews and many other family members in the attack that claimed scores of his relatives

    Alaa Alyousef via AP

The turbulence surrounding the New York property tycoon has been exacerbated by Mr Trump’s late night tweeting, where he has made claims about Barack Obama “wiretapping” his home and suggested Germany “owes America money for Nato”.

Much of the US’ softening attitude towards China appear to come as fears about trade decrease. 

While Mr Trump is promising to “Make America Great Again” by pursuing protectionist policies, the number of US citizens concerned about their trade deficit with China – which was $310bn (£245bn) last year – fell to 44 per cent, from 61 per cent five years ago. 

The Pew report suggested people’s shifting view of China might be to do with their increasingly confidence in the US economy. The number of people saying the US economic situation was 'very or somewhat good' has jumped from 44 per cent to 58 per cent.

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Donald Trump's approval rating has hit a new low

However, despite the increasingly positive view of China as a whole, Mr Trump is still viewed more favourably than the east Asian country's President, Xi Jinping. 

Just 31 per cent of Americans trust Mr Xi, who has ruled China since 2012, to do the right thing when it comes to world affairs. 

Mr Trump and Mr Xi are due to meet in Washington DC on Thursday where the American leader has insisted he will press the issue of North Korea’s nuclear testing.

China is seen as the only country which is able to rein in Pyongyang but has traditionally proved reluctant to do so, though it did suspend coal imports from the country in February, cutting a major economic lifeline for the secretive kingdom. 

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