Americans are increasingly concerned about China's power abroad and want to combat that influence, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center.
About 42% of respondents indicated they consider China an enemy of the United States, up from 34% in 2021, when the Washington-based research organization began asking the question.
The study, released Wednesday, also found that 71% of Americans believe China's global influence has been growing in recent years.
Nearly half of those surveyed said limiting China's power should be a top priority for U.S. foreign policy, along with protecting the United States from terrorist attacks and curbing the flow of illegal drugs into the country.
The growing suspicion comes as the two countries clash on an increasing number of issues and the leading candidates in the US presidential election vow to be tough on China.
President Biden and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump have expressed concerns about the impact of low-cost Chinese goods on American industries. About two-thirds of Pew respondents believe China has a negative impact on U.S. economic conditions.
Biden recently called for tripling tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum to combat what he called “unfair trade practices” by China. And on a trip to Beijing last month, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen raised the issue of “overcapacity” in Chinese manufacturing of electric cars and other clean energy products.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials in Beijing to discuss long-simmering sources of tension. Blinken raised the need to curb China's supply of fentanyl to the United States and warned China to stop providing tools and technology to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
“Russia would have difficulty maintaining its attack on Ukraine without support from China,” Blinken said at a news conference on Friday. “I made it clear that if China doesn't address this issue, we will.”
Meanwhile, China's top diplomat Wang Yi criticized the United States for using trade policy and sanctions to contain China's economic development. Wang also reiterated his government's concerns about US interference in China's claim to Taiwan and called on Biden to respect Beijing's sovereignty over the island democracy.
The high-level meetings followed the passage of a US bill allocating $8 billion in funding for Taiwan. The bill, which Biden signed last week, would also force a ban on TikTok in the United States if the Chinese-owned company does not sell its short video app business.
To assess American attitudes toward China, Pew researchers surveyed a representative sample of 3,600 American adults by mail, text message, and email during the first week of April.
The survey found that 81% of American adults view China unfavorably, a slight decrease from 83% last year, but still near the highest level in data going back to 2005. Public opinion has changed radically since 2017, when around 47% of respondents had unfavorable opinions. opinions about China and 43% had favorable opinions.
