Across much of the world, attitudes towards China are improving as views of the United States deteriorate, with trust in American leadership, reliability and respect for freedoms all taking a hit.

Donald Trump has achieved something remarkable. According to a July Pew Research report, most of the 36 countries surveyed found that more people have a favourable view of China than the US.

The survey results were based on 42,151 respondents and the favourable views were especially large in several Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern countries.

When the survey was taken, 28 per cent of respondents in Korea had a favourable view of China while 45 per cent of the US sample had an unfavourable view of the US.

Given Donald Trump’s latest embrace of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, these numbers would be reversed dramatically. Once again Trump has been found to favour dictators above democrats.

Across 20 countries, views of China have turned more positive and views of the US more........

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