Pakistanis lean towards China, US out of favour: Pew survey

New Delhi, July 19: The US, which was once an ally and biggest aid giver, is out of favour in Pakistan with only 11 percent Pakistanis see America positively. What should be of worry for India is that the Pakistanis now favour China, a Pew Research Center survey indicated.

Going with Pakistan are most of the countries surveyed and think that China's economic star is rising and eventually will top the United States as the world's dominant superpower.

However, the growing economic power does not translate into positive vibes. Those interviewed by Pew said they didn't think China's increasing power led to more positive ratings for the country. The results of the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes project were released today.

The United States has a stronger global image than China, with 63 percent expressing a favorable opinion of the United States, compared with 50 percent for China. Hence, they would consider the US as a partner rather than China.

But, in 23 of 39 nations, people thought that China either already replaced or eventually will replace the United States as the top superpower.

US preferred for democracy

In Africa, despite huge investments by China, many countries still view the United States more positively than China. African countries prefer America's 'way of doing business' over China's and tend to appreciate American democratic ideals.

China beats the United States in Latin America, where every country except Brazil, El Salvador and Mexico believes China has a more positive influence on society in general. China's favorability has remained largely unchanged. No country's favorability rating of China grew more than 10 points, except for Argentina and Uganda.

Support for Obama

Support for the US in Israel is actually the highest it's been since Pew launched this poll series in 2000. At its peak, Israeli support for the US during the Bush era was 78 percent (compared to 83 percent today).

Nearly, 61 percent of Israelis say that they trust President Obama "to do the right thing" in world affairs, a marked increase since 2011, when only 49 percent said the same. Confidence in Obama is much lower among Palestinians (15 percent) or Jordanians (24 percent) but significantly higher among Germans (88 percent), French (86 percent) or Japanese (81 percent).

Drone attacks not liked

Meanwhile, on the issue of drones, the survey said African and European countries are more likely to approve of drone strikes in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Middle Eastern countries had the lowest approval for strikes.

In a majority of the countries -- 31 of 39 -- more than half of respondents disapproved of the strikes.

The only three countries where the majority supported the drone campaign are Israel (64 percent), Kenya (56 percent) and the US itself (61 percent).

Pakistan has had more drone strikes than any other country in the world and showed least support, with three percent of respondents approving of US drone attacks.

The Pew Research Center surveyed 37,653 people in 39 countries.

OneIndia News