ML are pushing this hard, so it must be distrustful
Even from within the US we are watching the dismantling of our soft power while China has been literally building roads in Africa.
I take it with a measure of salt, but I also don’t hear about Chinese troops showing up to depose a ruler, sink fishing boats, or close a major oil shipping route.
According to the survey linked in the article,
one area where the U.S. still gets higher ratings than China has to do with personal freedoms: More say the U.S. government respects the personal freedoms of its people than say the same of the Chinese government.
Pew Research did also a survey to find out how views of the U.S. and China compare specifcally in Latin America:
- Views of China are now slightly more positive than views of the U.S., due largely to worsening views of the U.S.
- People generally lack confidence in both Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
- People are much more likely to say the U.S. interferes in the affairs of other countries than they are to say the same of China, but the two superpowers are seen in a fairly similar light when it comes to their reliability as a partner and contributions to global peace and stability.
All in all it is a more balanced view and doesn’t serve the Chinese propaganda.
What is absolutely missing in my humble opinion is how the U.S. and China compare to European countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and all the other democracies. The choice between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is just a bit like the choice between the plague and cholera. But that’s just my opinion, maybe I am mistaken.
[Edit typo.]
