Post-Covid, more in West see China as major power: study

WASHINGTON: The coronavirus pandemic has led a growing number of Westerners to see China as a top power, with the lead of the United States slipping, a study said on Tuesday.

A survey of French, German and US opinion released by the German Marshall Fund of the United States found significant increases in perceptions of Chinese influence since the outbreak of Covid-19 — in which Beijing has alternately been portrayed as a culprit and an aid provider.

The proportion of people who said China was the most influential global player shot up from 13 to 28 per cent in France between surveys in January to May, from 12 to 20 per cent in Germany and from six to 14 per cent in the United States.

“Chinese influence in the world was kind of an abstract idea before the crisis,” said Martin Quencez, deputy director of the German Marshall Fund’s Paris office.

“When you think about the dependency on China for mask and medical equipment, for instance, this has become very concrete,” he said.

Quencez expected a lasting impact, saying that the changes in perceptions were seen across generational and political lines. “It seems more structural than just a quick response to the crisis,” he said.

The public in all three countries still said that the United States was the most influential nation but less overwhelmingly. In France, 55 per cent of people said the United States was the top global player in May, down from 67 per cent in January. Similar figures were reported in Germany. One comparative loser was the European Union, which the French and Germans had put solidly in second place, over China, before the pandemic.

Despite China’s perceived influence, the survey found that majorities in both Germany and France said their countries should get tougher on Beijing over climate change, human rights and cybersecurity.

The survey also showed a sharp transatlantic divide on the influence of Britain, which left the European Union this year. Fifty-three per cent of Americans said Britain was the most influential country in Europe, an opinion shared by just eight per cent of Germans and six per cent of French.

The study, conducted with the Bertelsmann Foundation in Germany and Institut Montaigne in Paris, surveyed more than 1,000 different people in each country both from January 9-22 and May 11-19.