China loses its lustre among Europeans but doors remain open: survey
- Negative views are on the rise because of coronavirus and aggressive diplomacy but cooperation on trade and climate change still desirable
- Nearly 20,000 people in 13 countries questioned on their attitudes towards Beijing
But, as negative views of Beijing have grown across the continent, Europeans continued to regard trade and cooperation with China on climate change in a positive light, according to the report published this week by a group of 20 researchers.
The survey, led by the Sinophone Borderlands project at Palacky University in the Czech Republic, was carried out in September and October and covered Russia, Serbia and Britain as well as EU member states France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
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Negative views of China outweighed positive or neutral attitudes in all but three countries – Latvia, Serbia and Russia – and were strongest in Britain, Sweden and France, where more than half of respondents felt relations with China had worsened over the past three years.
Richard Turcsanyi, lead author of the report, said China’s worsening image could be attributed in part to the more aggressive “Wolf Warrior” approach to diplomacy adopted by China’s top envoys in countries like Sweden, France, and the Czech Republic.
“Such highly negative public opinion across Europe creates a pressure on European policymakers to push for more in their relations with China – be it human rights, 5G, or trade and investment negotiations,” Turcsanyi said.
Covid-19 had also contributed to the predominantly negative European perceptions of China, the survey showed. Fewer than 20 per cent of respondents in all but one country believed China’s international reputation had improved as a result of the pandemic. The exception was Serbia, where around a third of respondents felt it had improved.
