LONDON: China has beaten the United States in the battle for world opinion over the handling of coronavirus, according to a new poll.
The 53-country survey of 120,000 people by the German polling firm Dalia Research and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, found that more than 60 percent of people surveyed thought China had responded well to the pandemic.
“Only a third of people around the world said the US responded well to Covid-19,” according to the poll.
Greece, Taiwan, Ireland, South Korea, Australia, and Denmark were the countries where the largest proportions of people said that their governments had responded well to the pandemic. At the bottom end of the scale are Brazil, France, Italy, the US, and the UK.
Additionally, the poll stated that 45 percent of people thought their governments had limited too many freedoms during the pandemic.
In this regard, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, chairman of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation said, “COVID-19 is also a litmus test for democracy.”
“It should act as a wakeup call to democratic leaders that people want more democracy and freedom after COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
The poll also showed that a majority of the world thinks it is likely or somewhat likely that a foreign power will influence the results of their next election. Ahead of the U.S. presidential election, 55 percent of US citizens think that interference is very or somewhat likely.
ADVERTISEMENT
