Earlier this year, a spate of western TikTok and Instagram creators announced that they were at “a very Chinese time in my life” – drinking hot water and wearing slippers around their homes. The Chinamaxxing phenomenon primarily reflected the constant need of influencers for novel content. But social media trends also reflect a growing fascination with China, as the economic historian Adam Tooze has noted.
While it broods over China’s economic, military and technical advance, the Trump administration is accelerating Beijing’s diplomatic progress, as striking new polling by the Pew Research Center shows. For the first time, China and Xi Jinping are seen more favourably than the US and its president in most of the 36 major countries surveyed – including Canada, Mexico and Australia. Only in six countries did people rate the US more highly. While Beijing has seen significant improvements in some places, the slump in Washington’s standing is more dramatic. Across 20 countries, the median percentage with a favourable view of China rose from 32% to 46% between 2023 and this year; for the US, it fell from 58% to 36%. Views of China were much more positive in Latin America, Africa and parts of south and south-east Asia than in wealthier European and east Asian countries.
On Thursday, Mr Trump accused China of interfering with the 2020 election – casting doubt on polls ahead of midterms that are forecast to hit Republicans hard. Never mind the lack of evidence; he offered Argentinians a $20bn economic incentive to vote in line with his preference last October. In nearly every country surveyed, more people thought the US interfered in other countries than thought China did so. Mr Trump’s demands to take over Greenland, the abduction of Venezuela’s then leader Nicolás Maduro and the illegal war on Iran have all left their mark. Even the World Cup, which should have been an easy US soft power win, has been tarred by his exclusion and bullying.
Grave concerns about Beijing remain. Though it has dialled back displays of aggressive “wolf-warrior” diplomacy, it is forceful in its dealings. But it may benefit from lower expectations, and it looks predictable beside Trump-created turmoil. Famously, Beijing has just one ally: North Korea. Washington has more than 50 – but seems to accord them less respect than adversaries. Beijing detained two Canadian citizens for more than 1,000 days in retaliation for Ottawa’s arrest of the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou due to a US warrant. But Mr Trump announced that Canada will be the 51st state.
China is increasingly investing in overseas influence operations, including working with or amplifying local social media content creators. Content may range from paid-for Xinjiang travelogues intended to erase concerns about the persecution of Uyghurs, to softer material about food or technology.
The Pew findings may further convince it of Washington’s hegemonic decline. China is keen to encourage the belief that it is leaping into a shiny new future of cyberpunk cities, while the west struggles with a declining standard of living – not least because it is useful in the face of domestic disillusionment.
But public perceptions of other countries are often complex and volatile. US standing rebounded after dropping sharply over the Iraq war; China’s favourability ratings fell during the pandemic, reflecting its handling of the outbreak. The lasting lesson for both superpowers should surely be that presentation shapes opinion, but others will judge them on their actions – and respond accordingly.
