Rise in Republicans wary of China as bipartisan agreement lessens, new survey says

Republicans in the United States increasingly oppose friendly cooperation with China, according to a new survey released on Wednesday, marking a major break with past decades.

The report titled “The Growing Partisan Divide on US Foreign Policy”, published by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and drawing on 50 years of comparative data, found that respondents in the increasingly partisan US are sharply split on how Washington should deal with Beijing.

Bipartisan agreement on the topic has sharply declined, the analysis found, with a 16-point gap now separating Republicans and Democrats when asked to rate their feelings toward China, the largest in half a century.

However, there has also been a softening in opinions toward China, 53 per cent of Americans want friendly cooperation – although heavily tilted toward Democrats and Independents, up from 40 per cent in 2024.

“This is the first time since 2019 that a majority of Americans have preferred a policy of cooperation and engagement with China,” said Dina Smeltz, the council’s managing director of public opinion and foreign policy. “This shift is primarily driven by Democrats’ change in opinion.”

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In addition to being asked to rate their feelings toward friendly cooperation with China, respondents were also asked whether they viewed the country as a critical threat to the US.

South China Morning Post