WASHINGTON DC: The Pew Research Center has released an update on its Global Attitudes Survey, which tracks opinion of China on a yearly basis. The changes show a general downward trend since last year:

Canada and Sweden had some of the biggest drops in favorable opinion on China, with each country’s favorable rating on China 17 points less than in 2018. This is no surprise, given the Canadian hostage situation and the ongoing detention of Swedish bookseller Guì Mǐnhǎ.

Those two countries are now similar to the U.S. in their views toward China, with a 25 to 27 percent favorability toward China. U.S. favorability of China is also 12 points lower than a year ago.

Indonesia is another country with a 17-point drop, a change that could be attributed to anger over Uyghur internment and the South China Sea disputes. Tunisia, the other Muslim-majority country in the poll, saw a 7 percent drop in China favorability; the Philippines, another country with South China Sea disputes, saw an 11 point drop — though resentment of Chinese immigrants is also prominent there.

(Agencies)