During the recent Chinese Communist Party conference, President Xi Jinping not only consolidated his power on the party but also laid out his vision of a ‘new era’ where China will become a ‘mighty force’ in the world. In essence, he was positioning China as a global leader to fill the economic, moral and political vacuum that is being created by United States’ withdrawal from this role in recent times.
Evidence of this shift is shown by a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. The survey found that there was a 14% drop in those who view the US favourably amongst the countries polled. Furthermore countries such as Australia, the Netherlands and Canada now all view China more favourably than the US and other countries such as Germany, Chile and Indonesia now trust the leadership of President Xi more than President Trump.
