Latest news with #AllianceOfDemocracies
South China Morning Post
26-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
The problems with China's efforts to patch things up with Europe: ‘there are limits'
There have been many signs of a messy divorce between Europe and the United States since Donald Trump 's return to the White House in January, but one of the most stark arrived earlier this month. A sweeping survey of more than 100,000 people claiming to be the 'world's largest annual study on democracy' found that in Europe, net perceptions of China have overtaken those of the US. Only in Poland, Hungary and Lithuania is the US more popular than China, according to the study by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, a Danish NGO that was, ironically, sanctioned by Beijing in 2021 for 'severely harming China's sovereignty and interests and maliciously spreading lies and disinformation'. On the same day the findings were published, Trump himself suggested the feeling was mutual, telling reporters that the 'European Union is in many ways nastier than China, OK?' The real-time unravelling of the post-war alliance has led many to believe that the EU would patch up its testy ties with Beijing , much as it did during Trump's first term in 2017. EU leaders have encouraged such speculation by repeatedly saying they are open to deepening trade and investment ties with China. For hawkish European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, it marked a dramatic shift from her combative rhetoric on China since Russia's invasion of Ukraine over three years ago.
South China Morning Post
26-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
‘There are limits': the problems with China's efforts to patch things up with Europe
There have been many signs of a messy divorce between Europe and the United States since Donald Trump 's return to the White House in January, but one of the most stark arrived earlier this month. A sweeping survey of more than 100,000 people claiming to be the 'world's largest annual study on democracy' found that in Europe, net perceptions of China have overtaken those of the US. Only in Poland, Hungary and Lithuania is the US more popular than China, according to the study by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, a Danish NGO that was, ironically, sanctioned by Beijing in 2021 for 'severely harming China's sovereignty and interests and maliciously spreading lies and disinformation'. On the same day the findings were published, Trump himself suggested the feeling was mutual, telling reporters that the 'European Union is in many ways nastier than China, OK?' The real-time unravelling of the post-war alliance has led many to believe that the EU would patch up its testy ties with Beijing , much as it did during Trump's first term in 2017. EU leaders have encouraged such speculation by repeatedly saying they are open to deepening trade and investment ties with China. For hawkish European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, it marked a dramatic shift from her combative rhetoric on China since Russia's invasion of Ukraine over three years ago.
Free Malaysia Today
12-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Global perceptions of US fall below China, says survey
The perception of US President Donald Trump was negative in 82 of the 100 countries surveyed, higher than Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. (AP pic) COPENHAGEN : Global perceptions of the US have deteriorated across the world over the past year and are now worse than views of China, according to an annual study of perceptions of democracy published today. The survey did not go into details on the criteria used, but the Alliance of Democracies Foundation which commissioned it says its aim is to defend and advance democratic values. When asked why perceptions of the US had slipped, Alliance founder and former Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: 'President Trump has triggered a trade war, scolded Ukraine's president in the Oval Office, left allies feeling vulnerable and enemies emboldened'. 'It's no surprise that opinions have slipped even among people like me who spent their lives admiring the US and what it stood for,' he added. Trump has said he is pushing for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and on Thursday called for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire between the two countries. He has also said that tariffs are defending the US economy against what his administration sees as unfair trade conditions. 'The conclusions in the Democracy Perception Index survey, conducted between April 9 and 23 with polling firm Nira Data, were based on more than 111,000 respondents worldwide,' the Alliance said. The perception of Trump was negative in 82 of the 100 countries surveyed, higher than Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who were viewed negatively in 61 and 44 countries, respectively. The survey also ranked the perception of countries from -100% to +100%. The net perception rating of the US fell to -5% from +22% last year, indicating a greater number of respondents with a negative view of the country compared with those with a positive view. The share of countries with a positive image of the US dropped to 45% from 76% last year, the survey showed. For China, the net perception rose to +14% this year from +5% last year, the survey found. The report was published ahead of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, which takes place on May 13-14.
