China’s international reputation plummeted; criticism focused on its measures against corona - US survey

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

中国への国際的評価が急落、政府のコロナ対策に批判集中　米調査

2020.10.07 Wed posted at 13:08 JST

 香港（ＣＮＮ） 過去数カ月間で、中国に対する国際的な評価が著しく低下していることが分かった。米世論調査機関のピュー・リサーチ・センターが６日、明らかにした。調査対象となった国々の大半は、中国政府による新型コロナウイルスのパンデミック（世界的な流行）への対応が不適切だったとの認識を示している。

中国の習近平（シーチンピン）国家主席に対する信頼感も過去１２カ月で激減。米国では回答者の７７％以上が習主席について、国際情勢で「正しいことを行う」とは思えないと述べた。

ピューは６月から８月にかけて１４カ国の成人１万４２７６人を対象に電話で調査を実施。これらの国々には米国、カナダ、フランス、ドイツ、オーストラリア、日本、英国などが含まれる。

ピューの上級研究員で今回の報告の作成にも携わったローラ・シルバー氏は「主な結果として、中国に対する否定的な見方が急激に高まっている。これは同国が新型コロナウイルスの感染に適切に対応しなかったという事実と結びついたものだ」と分析した。

新型コロナの最初の感染例は昨年末、中国の武漢で報告された。以後、同国は感染拡大初期の対応をめぐって批判を浴び続けている。西欧の政治家からは当初の感染拡大について、柔軟性を欠いた中国の政治体制に原因があるとする指摘が相次いだ。

ただ、それ以降中国は感染の封じ込めに成功しており、ここ数カ月は概ね通常の生活へと戻っている。

ピューが調査した１４カ国ではいずれも、中国に対する否定的な見方が大半を占めた。またフランス、日本、イタリアを除くすべての国々で、中国政府への評価は過去最低を記録した。

１４カ国全体では、６１％が中国政府のパンデミック対策を不適切だったと回答した。

一方で、中国に対する感情は昨年のパンデミック発生以前からすでに悪化傾向にあった。香港における民主化要求運動に対する弾圧や、イスラム教徒が多数派を形成する新疆ウイグル自治区での大規模な強制収容などが各国で報じられたことが背景にあるとみられる。

Translation

Hong Kong (CNN) Over the past few months, it had been found that China's international reputation had declined significantly. The Pew Research Center, a US polling agency, revealed this on the 6th. Most of the countries surveyed had indicated that the Chinese government's response to the new coronavirus pandemic was inadequate.

Confidence in Xi Jinping of China also plummeted in the past 12 months. In the United States, more than 77% of respondents said Xi did not seem to "do the right thing" in international affairs.

Pew conducted a telephone survey of 14,276 adults in 14 countries from June to August. These countries included the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Laura Silver, a senior researcher at Pew, who was also involved in the preparation of this report analyzed that "The main result is a sharp rise in negative views of China. This is linked to the fact that the country did not respond appropriately to the infection with the new coronavirus."

The first case of the new corona was reported in Wuhan, China late last year. Since then, the country had been criticized for its early response to the spread of the infection. Western politicians pointed out again and again that the initial spread of the infection was due to China's inflexible political system.

However, since then, China had succeeded in containing the infection and returned to a normal life in recent months.

All of the 14 countries surveyed by Pew had negative views on China in the majority. In all countries except France, Japan and Italy, the evaluation of the Chinese government was the lowest ever.

In all 14 countries, 61% said the Chinese government's measures in dealing with the pandemic were inadequate.

On the other hand, sentiments toward China had already been on the decline since before the outbreak of the pandemic last year. It seemed that the background was that the crackdown on the movements  to demand democratization in Hong Kong, and the large-scale detention in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region where Muslims form a majority, were being reported in various countries.

              So, the image of China has dropped due to the Corona pandemic. Western politicians have rightly pointed out that the initial spread of the infection was due to China's inflexible political system. Every governing system has it pros and cons. Inflexible political is one of the down sides of a totalitarian government.

(Note: The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis, and other empirical social science research. The Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts)