'Beijing is surpassing Washington in every aspect'?

A poll released on January 18 by the Gallup Institute showed that only 30% of respondents support the US's role as world leader under President Donald Trump. According to Gallup, Germany is currently the leading power in the global credit rating with a 41% approval rating, followed by China (31%) while Russia ranks fourth with 27%.

Does China's 1 percentage point lead over the US in this poll prove what Chinese scholars claim? Here are three experts' opinions on the matter.

Evaluate survey results objectively

According to Mr. Yang Mian, Professor at the China Institute of International Relations, the Gallup survey results reflect China's development as well as the decline of America's reputation, but it does not mean that China has actually surpassed America.

China has taken on a greater global leadership role over the past five years, promoting globalization and free trade. However, it should not be overlooked that China’s leadership in the new survey is only 1 percentage point higher than that of the United States, despite the fact that the United States’ approval rating has dropped from 48% under President Barack Obama to just 30% after one year of President Donald Trump.

Besides, a survey result cannot be considered absolute, although it is based on a survey in 134 countries and territories with each country interviewing 1,000 people over 15 years old.

Global confidence in US leadership has declined, but there is still a gap between China and the US when it comes to overall power. The US still has extensive global influence and remains a leader in areas such as high technology and trade.

China should see the survey results as a sign of greater support for its international role. It still needs to strengthen multilateral cooperation in areas such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and producing more public goods.

Cooperation will bring many benefits to both sides.

The change in US policies, especially in finance and trade, has had a global impact at various levels, said Wang Honggang, director of the China Academy of World Politics.

The global financial crisis that originated in the US has had a major negative impact on America’s global leadership role. Approval for the US fell to a record low in President Donald Trump’s first year in office, as he failed to deliver on his campaign promise to “Make America Great Again,” with a 69-hour government shutdown.

The US has resorted to protectionist policies to protect domestic businesses, which has reduced Washington’s global responsibilities. Moreover, Mr. Trump’s plans to build a wall on the border with Mexico or increase military actions abroad have created tensions between the US and many other countries.

The lesson that China must learn from this survey is that cooperation is essential to bring benefits to both sides. China’s proposals, including the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), are win-win in nature.

Sino-US relations, however, need to be stable in the long term. In the short term, bilateral conflicts will increase, as US President Donald Trump needs to consolidate “achievements” such as reducing the trade deficit with China and strengthening his world leadership role, in order to win the midterm elections.

More efforts are needed to develop ourselves.

Wang Fan, vice president of China Foreign Affairs University, also said that the Gallup survey results do not mean that Beijing has replaced Washington as a global leader. It only means that Beijing's influence in the world has increased.

The reason for China’s growing influence is Beijing’s aggressive push for globalization, which is in sharp contrast to America’s protectionist policies and its withdrawal from multilateral mechanisms such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

China needs to deepen cooperation with other countries to improve its global role and make more efforts to transform its economic structure, improve its technology and build a high-quality, well-educated workforce. Because the stronger its economy, the more it can contribute to the development of the world.

China also needs to tap into multilateral cooperation platforms and mechanisms that allow innovation to play a greater role. For example, it can use high-speed rail technology to deepen ties with other countries. China must also work harder to change an ideological bias that many countries still have, which is to view the rise of a non-Western power with suspicion. To do this, China needs to convince the international community that it does not intend to seek hegemony./.