Trump is making China – not America – great again, global survey suggests

A year after Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a global survey suggests much of the world believes his nation-first, “Make America Great Again” approach is instead helping to make China great again.

The 21-country survey for the influential European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank also found that under Trump, the US is less feared by its traditional adversaries, while its allies – particularly in Europe – feel ever more distant.

Most Europeans no longer see the US as a reliable ally and are increasingly supportive of rearmament, it found, while Russians now see the EU as more of an enemy than the US, and Ukrainians are looking more to Brussels than to Washington for support.

The poll, of nearly 26,000 respondents in 13 European countries, the US, China, India, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, South Africa and South Korea, found majorities in almost every territory surveyed expected China’s global influence to grow over the next decade.

These ranged from 83% in South Africa, 72% in Brazil and 63% in Turkey through 54% in the US, 53% in 10 EU states and 51% in India to 50% in the UK. Most EU citizens expected China to soon lead the world in electric vehicles and renewable energies.

Moreover, few seemed concerned about it. The polling found that only in Ukraine and South Korea did majorities view China as a rival or an adversary, while more people in South Africa, India and Brazil saw China as an ally than they did two years ago.

Trump is making China – not America – great again, global survey suggests

Exclusive: US is less feared by its traditional adversaries, while its allies feel ever more distant, results show

^{Jon Henley (The Guardian)}