CHINA-FOREIGN POLICY: VIEWS OF CHINESE ON OTHER COUNTRIES
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The Sinophone Borderlands online public opinion survey in China in March 2022, which
polled 3,000 Chinese respondents (split into six groups) responded to questions about what
they thought about the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe, Singapore, and Africa. Their
comments, briefly, were: The United States was commonly thought of as an advanced and
powerful state, yet hostile to China, untrustworthy, and tending to interfere in other countries’
affairs. “Hegemon” was the most prevalent association. Respondents very commonly used
negative adjectives such as bossy, arrogant, selfish, shameless, unfriendly, but even retarded
or vicious; On Russia, the Chinese respondents were mostly positive, although the intensity of
positivity did not appear as strong as the negativity towards the US. In contrast to the United
States, Russia is clearly viewed as a friendly country. Respondents whose perception of Russia
got better mentioned the strength of the country, the strength of the leadership (“trust Putin,”
“Putin has guts,” “strong leadership”), and trustworthiness and friendliness toward China (even
“brotherly love” between Russia and China, but also mentions that the “enemy of an enemy is
our friend”); Regarding Europe, Chinese respondents did not have robust associations. Europe
is seen as white (“Caucasians”), wealthy, developed in all kinds of ways – economy,
technology, culture – and as an exciting travel destination with rich culture and history. The
three most mentioned countries were France, Italy, and Germany; The Chinese respondents’
image of Africa is of “poverty,” followed by “Black people.” African people are seen by the
Chinese as “friendly” although “lazy”; With Japan the most common associations tend to focus
on historical grievances, such as “invasion of China,” “Nanjing massacre,” “resistance war
against Japan,” or “cruel history.” Japan is also seen as a technological and industrial
powerhouse with a developed economy.
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