The majority of Americans blame China for allowing the coronavirus to spread worldwide as public opinion continues to turn against the country, according to a new poll from Pew Research Center.
More than two-thirds of Americans said that China has done a “bad” job of handling the coronavirus outbreak, while more than three-quarters said that the country holds “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of the blame for the virus’ spread.
- 64% said China has done a bad job dealing with the outbreak.
- 31% said China has done a good job.
- 78% said China is “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to blame for the outbreak.
- 20% said China is “not too much” or “not at all” to blame.
Almost three-quarters of Americans, 73%, said that they have an unfavorable view of China, an increase of 7 percentage points since last March and 26 percentage points since 2018.
“As the U.S. imposes sanctions on Chinese companies and officials over Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs and other minority groups — after originally resisting these actions — the American public appears poised to support a tough stance,” the poll notes.
“This poll is the latest in a series that shows a trend in the same direction. This one shows an acceleration. What that means is that it’s good politics to criticize China right now,” Bill Reinsch, a trade policy expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Washington Examiner.
“You see it in the opinion polls. People are not happy,” he added. “To what extent they are going to think about it in the voting booth — I’m going to vote for Trump because he’s tougher on China than Biden — I don’t know. I think it will be more a referendum on the economy generally.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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