Americans’ views of China have grown more positive

A new report from the Pew Research Center shows that Americans view China significantly more positively now than a year ago, and that the increases are not limited to the young and liberal: 39 percent of Republicans have a favorable opinion of China, up from 27 percent a year ago. Overall, opinions remain mixed, though Pew reports that “concerns about U.S. debt, job losses, and trade deficits have generally eased” as the American economy has continued to gain strength. For example, while 61 percent of Americans in 2012 considered the trade deficit with China to be a very serious problem, only 44 percent think so today.

Nevertheless, Pew notes a significant partisan divide: “Most strikingly, 71% of Republicans say job losses to China are a very big problem for the U.S., compared with only 47% of Democrats.” Trump’s harsh rhetoric on China may be best understood, then, as a reflection of Republican voters rather than the American public at large.

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