China has handled Covid-19 outbreak poorly, says Pew survey

<p style="font-weight: 400;">The majority of the advanced countries believe that China has handled the outbreak of Covid-19 in a poor manner, says the survey of the Pew Research Centre.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“Among the 14 advanced economies surveyed, most rate China’s Covid-19 response negatively. At least six-in-ten in Canada and the US rate China’s handling of the coronavirus as poor. More than half in seven European nations share this view, including 72 per cent in Denmark and 65 per cent in Sweden,” the report said.</p>
Pew also said that “most negative” reviews of China’s Covid-19 comes from three-nation in the Asia-Pacific 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.”
<p style="font-weight: 400;">The survey was conducted between June 10 to August 3, among 14,276 adults over the phone in the US, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Australia, Japan and South Korea.</p>
Negative views of China increased most in Australia, where 81 per cent now say they see the country unfavorably. In the UK, around three-quarters now see the country in a negative light. And, in the US, negative views of China have increased nearly 20 percentage points since President Donald Trump took office.
<p style="font-weight: 400;">In most countries, the per cent saying they have not too much or no confidence in him has grown by double digits since last year. For example, in the Netherlands, whereas around half distrusted Xi last year, today 70 per cent say the same—up 17 percentage points."</p>
Across the 14 countries surveyed, a median of 78 per cent say they have no confidence in Chinese President Xi to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs, with at least seven-in-ten in every country saying they lack confidence in Xi.

In the US, a majority say they have no confidence at all in Xi (55 per cent), and about half in Canada say the same (47 per cent). No more than a quarter report having any confidence in him in either country.
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Europeans report similarly low levels of trust in Xi. A third or more in each country surveyed say they have no confidence at all in the Chinese President, including at least half in Sweden, France and Denmark.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">About half in Japan and Australia also say they have no confidence at all in Xi. Japan also stands out as a country where less than 0.5 per cent of the public—effectively no one—reports having a lot of confidence in China's President, though no more than 5 per cent report having a lot of confidence in him in any country surveyed.</p>.