By John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College
As America celebrated its 250th anniversary, this country got a rude shock. Polls from the respected Pew Research Center showed that in surveys of more than 30 countries that China is generally becoming more popular with those other countries than the USA. Despite this bad news, there’s still some good news about the American people, and less for our government.
Pew polls show that of the 36 countries, 27 have a more favorable view of China, with 19 of them show a double-digit gap in preferences for China. Of these 27 countries, the vast majority of them are elected democracies, not one of the most unfree countries in the world like China.
It wasn’t always like this. In 2023 and 2024, the USA had a 20-point gap on China for favorability (averaging 56% to China’s 32%). Now China’s up to 46% in positive views, while the USA is down to 36%.
The good news is the doesn’t necessarily translate to views of the American people. I have guest speakers in my class from other countries who let me know that people like Americans a lot more than they like our government. The World Cup is evidence of that. Many who came to our cities (mostly blue cities) not only enjoyed themselves but the people, seeming a little surprised by the warm reception of the average American, a different view than what’s seen in the media.
There’s more good news from the poll. In only about ten countries (all developing countries) do a majority of people like China’s dictator Xi Jinping (an 11th, The Philippines, gives him 50% marks). Most of the rest of the world gives Xi less than 40 percent approval ratings. So at least not everyone is embracing China’s leadership by wide margins, something that puts this scholar, part of the Victims of Communism group, a little more at ease.
The evidence shows nearly all of it is related to our current president. In his last two years of office, Biden averaged about 50 percent confidence to do the right thing regarding world affairs according to these 36 countries, as compared to 19% for Xi. Now our leadership is down to 21 percent confidence to do the right thing regarding world affairs, ten percentage points below Xi Jinping, who has been more internationally coy about Taiwan and the South China Sea.
These are the countries where Trump has more than a 30% approval rating: The Philippines (68%), Israel (66%), Nigeria (65%), Kenya (63%), Ghana (54%), Hungary (44%), Colombia (43%), India (39%), and Sri Lanka (35%). In most of the developed world, Trump is below 25%. Firing off tariffs on so many countries, demanding territory like Greenland, and having policies as mercurial as his mood shifts aren’t strengthening alliances or earning respect from others.
There’s also a significant portion of those in countries survey that think America’s government is behaving like an autocracy. Singapore, Spain, The Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and South Korea all find big double-digit drops (from 57%-76% to 28%-40%) who agree with the statement that the US government respects personal freedoms. All but Singapore give much lower marks to China on this measure, but it’s not a good look for America on its 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The World Cup was a success, and Donald Trump could have capitalized on that. He should get credit for presiding over a successfully secure and peaceful 2026 FIFA games. But the pressure to reverse the red card for a star player who would have likely been deported under his policies and actions during the awards ceremony showed an unnecessary move to control the games, an “own goal” that overshadowed the amazing series of games, reinforcing that attempt to control everything that other countries evidently don’t like.
John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu or on “X” at @johntures2. His first book “Branded” a thriller novel where corporate greed, media manipulation and academic intrigue collide in a deadly game of product placement, has been published by the Huntsville Independent Press (https://www.huntsvilleindependent.com/product-page/branded). His second novel, “Independent Thought,” about a third-party candidacy that brings America to its knees, is coming out later this summer with HIP (https://www.huntsvilleindependent.com/).