A public opinion poll conducted in China showed that people now have a less favorable attitude toward Australia. The poll conducted by the Global Times Research Center showed that about 40% of Chinese people consider Australia as an economic, political and ideological threat rather than a partner.
The study was conducted in cooperation with the Australian Studies Center of Beijing Foreign Studies University earlier in the month. It included data collected from 2,067 respondents - aged 18 to 70 - in 10 Chinese cities.
In the poll, China respondents scored their attitude toward Australia an average of 55.6 points - on a scale of 0 to 100. This was lower than the 65.3-point average recorded during a similar poll conducted by the research center last year.
The low score was mirrored by a similar poll conducted by the Lowy Institute in Australia. In its poll, Australians scored their attitude toward China an average of 39 points - on a scale of 0 to 100.
The declining two-way attitude reflects the wider rift between the two nations as they continue to battle it out in their own trade war. Chen Hong, a professor with the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University said Australia's continued China-bashing and its growing anti-China sentiment has sparked the negative trend.
"Australia single handedly has to be responsible for such simmering public opinion. Australian media and politicians have been smearing and criticizing China on every front, be it economy, Covid-19 or other issues. Yet Australia has been less frequently mentioned in Chinese publications," Chen said.
Over the past year, relations between the two nations have significantly soured after leaders from both sides argued over different issues. China was angered after several Australian politicians hyped allegations of China's involvement in the spread of the coronavirus. This prompted China to impose sanctions on some Australian imports, which then led to a string of tit-for-tat retaliatory measures.
More than half of the respondents in the Global Times poll believe that the U.S. is a big factor in destroying China's relations with Australia. The two nations have had close diplomatic ties for decades until Australia decided to attack China on the behest of its western ally.
"The U.S.' anti-China strategy has stimulated the rise of similar sentiments in Australia. Yet there is not much mutual trust between Beijing and Canberra, so Australia should not risk discarding it completely simply to benefit a third country," Chen said.
