China's reputation improves in Pew survey as US sees drop
A median of 32 per cent of respondents in high-income countries had a favourable opinion of China, according to a report by Pew Research Center released on Wednesday (Jul 16), the highest level in six years. In contrast, the figure for the US fell to 35 per cent, the lowest in data going back to 2017.
Also, more respondents expressed confidence in President Xi Jinping than in a US leader, the first time that has happened since Trump's first term. Still, the figures were low, at 24 to 22 per cent.
The broadest part of the research was done from January to late April, a period that includes Trump announcing tariffs on nations around the world on his so-called Liberation Day, though the levies were later paused while trade deals were negotiated. Pew said some 28,000 people around the world were surveyed but did not indicate how many participated in the rich nations.
While Trump has sought to rebalance in a fundamental way America's vast trade networks, Xi has tried to improve relations with South-east Asia, Africa and Europe. The Pew survey seems to indicate Xi has had some success on that front, though China's relationship with the European Union remains difficult over Beijing's support for Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
On Monday, Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee accused the Trump administration of 'ceding global leadership to China'. They said in a report that the trade war and a retreat from international engagement through cuts to foreign aid and media agencies have undercut alliances and economic partnerships.
The latest Pew research also found that more people around the world see China as the top economic power, overtaking the US. A median of 41 per cent of adults across 25 countries gave the title to China, compared to 39 per cent for the US.
'This is a marked departure from two years ago, when considerably more people saw the US than China as the world's leading economy,' it said.
Still, views of China and Xi still remain broadly negative. Just 36 per cent of people in the 25 nations had a favourable take on the nation. Some 66 per cent said they had little or no confidence in him. BLOOMBERG
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Crypto market gets major win as US Congress passes stablecoin bill
The US Congress delivered a watershed victory for the crypto industry on July 17, clearing the way for broader use of the technology in everyday finance. Washington – The US Congress delivered a watershed victory for the crypto industry on July 17, passing the first federal legislation to regulate stablecoins and clearing the way for broader use of the technology in everyday finance. Backed by Republicans and championed by President Donald Trump, the bill imposes federal or state oversight on US dollar-linked tokens that can move around the clock and across platforms. Supporters say it could unlock faster, cheaper forms of payments – and bring legitimacy to a US$265 billion (S$340 billion) market that Citigroup analysts expect could swell to US$3.7 trillion by 2030. The measure, which passed the House 308-122 with broad bipartisan support after clearing the Senate, is now on track to become law. Mr Trump personally lobbied Republican lawmakers to support it. The legislation marks a political coming-of-age for the digital assets industry, which rebounded from the confidence-rattling collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX crypto exchange less than three years ago to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the election last year of friendly lawmakers. The stablecoin bill is the centrepiece of a legislative push Mr Trump has dubbed 'Crypto Week.' Earlier on July 17, the House also passed a broad crypto market structure bill that still has to be considered by the Senate. Democratic critics such as Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Maxine Waters warned the new stablecoin regulatory regime won't do enough to protect consumers and could lead to pressure for government bailouts if issuers of the digital tokens fail. But the nation's most influential bankers are already grappling with the challenge the new measure is likely to accelerate. On earnings calls this week, JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon, Bank of America's Brian Moynihan and Citigroup's Jane Fraser each described the upstart 'digital dollar' as a potential threat to the banking industry's grip on payments – and signalled they're preparing to respond. The digital tokens could potentially eat at bank deposits, as some consumers move money into stablecoin accounts. It could also broaden the stablecoins' use in cross-border money transfers and in payments, and open the way for everyone from banks to card networks to technology firms issuing their own stablecoins. In recent weeks, a slew of major banks including JPMorgan said they are looking at being involved in stablecoins. US-based crypto companies that issue dollar-denominated stablecoins such as Circle Internet Group may be in the most immediate position to gain. While Circle finished on July 17 up less than 1 per cent, it has jumped 25 per cent to US$235.08 this week. Coinbase Global, which has a revenue sharing agreement with Circle, rose 3.2 per cent to US$410.75, a record high. Bitcoin was down slightly in the last 24 hours, after hitting its all-time high of about US$123,000 on July 14, partly on optimism about the stablecoin bill's prospects. Stablecoins so far have largely been used for transactions related to the cryptocurrency market rather than business payments. The legislation 'provides the stablecoin industry with the degree of legitimacy they have been craving' said Eswar Prasad, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. 'And the bonus is that it comes with what I view as relatively light-touch regulation.' The measure sets regulatory rules for dollar-backed stablecoins, including a requirement for firms to hold dollar-for-dollar reserves in short-term government debt or similar products overseen by state or federal regulators. Mr Trump and his family have ties to a series of digital-asset businesses including World Liberty Financial, a platform that has its own branded token as well as a stablecoin. Crypto ventures have added at least US$620 million to Trump's personal fortune in the span of months, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Some Democrats unsuccessfully tried to add a provision to the legislation that would bar elected officials such as Mr Trump and their families from stablecoin business ventures. BLOOMBERG
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Trump reclassifies some federal workers, making them easier to fire
United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday (Jul 17) creating a new classification of non-career federal workers who can more easily be fired if they fail to carry out the president's priorities, the White House said. The new classification, called Schedule G, will be for employees involved in policy making who will now be expected to leave their positions when the president who appointed them leaves office, according to a White House fact sheet. The White House did not provide details on how many workers would be put into this new classification. Earlier this year, Trump signalled the change, saying the federal government will finally be "run like a business". The executive order will likely strip vast numbers of the roughly 2.3 million federal workforce of their job protections by effectively making them employees at will. Trump ordered the reclassification of many government workers at the end of his first term, known as Schedule F, which former Democratic president Joe Biden rescinded on his first day in office in 2021. Estimates then were that Schedule F could have made at least 50,000 federal workers vulnerable to being fired.
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business Times
US House passes stablecoin legislation, sending bill to Trump
[NEW YORK] The US House of Representatives on Thursday (Jul 16) passed a bill to create a regulatory framework for US-dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens known as stablecoins, sending the bill to US President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. The vote marks a watershed moment for the digital asset industry, which has been pushing for federal legislation for years and poured money into last year's elections to promote pro-crypto candidates. House lawmakers also passed two other crypto bills, sending them next to the Senate for consideration. One lays out a regulatory framework for crypto, and the other would ban the US from issuing a central bank digital currency. The stablecoin bill, known as the Genius Act, and the crypto market structure bill, known as the Clarity Act, both received notable bipartisan support. Democratic lawmakers joined with Republicans to pass the stablecoin bill 308-122. Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1:1 US dollar peg, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. Their use has grown rapidly in recent years, and proponents say that they could be used to send payments instantly. If signed into law, the stablecoin bill would require tokens to be backed by liquid assets, such as US dollars and short-term Treasury bills, and for issuers to publicly disclose the composition of their reserves on a monthly basis. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Blockchain Association CEO and former Commodity Futures Trading Commission official Summer Mersinger described on Thursday's votes as a 'defining moment in the evolution of US digital asset policy.' The crypto sector has long pushed for lawmakers to pass legislation creating rules for digital assets, arguing that a clear framework could enable stablecoins and other crypto tokens to become more widely used. The sector spent more than US$119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates in last year's elections and has worked to paint the issue as bipartisan. The House of Representatives passed a stablecoin bill last year, but the Senate, in which Democrats held the majority at the time, did not take up that bill. Trump has sought to broadly overhaul US cryptocurrency policies after courting cash from the industry during his presidential campaign. Tensions on Capitol Hill over Trump's various crypto ventures at one point threatened to derail the digital asset sector's hope of legislation this year, as Democrats have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump and his family members promoting their personal crypto projects. Trump's crypto ventures include a meme coin called $TRUMP, launched in January, and a business called World Liberty Financial, a crypto company owned partly by the president. The White House has said there are no conflicts of interest present for Trump and that his assets are in a trust managed by his children. Clarity Act sent to Senate The Clarity Act, which passed 294-134, would critically define when a cryptocurrency is a security or a commodity and clarify the Securities and Exchange Commission's jurisdiction over the sector, something crypto companies aggressively disputed during the Biden administration. Crypto companies have argued that most tokens should be classified as commodities instead of securities, which would enable platforms to more easily offer those tokens to their customers by not having to comply with a raft of securities laws. That bill would need to pass through the Senate before heading to Trump's desk for final approval. Some Democrats fiercely opposed the Clarity Act, arguing it could be a giveaway to Trump's crypto ventures by enabling softer-touch regulation. The House also passed a bill prohibiting a central bank digital currency, which Republicans say could violate Americans' privacy. The issue had been a sticking point in House discussions this week. REUTERS
