In China and the West, there is growing dislike for the other.
Cultural admiration for the West in China is also declining.
That has consequences for politics.
Munich / Beijing / Washington - The economy fears a decoupling between China and the West - for example in digitization or global supply chains.
In public perception, this has long been taking place.
Opinion in the West about China is sinking to ever new lows.
In the Corona year 2020 in particular, negative views on China skyrocketed, according to data from the respected US polling institute Pew Research.
Conversely, young Chinese are distancing themselves from the West and its culture.
In a Pew study published in October 2020, negative opinions about China were in the majority in all the states examined.
In Australia, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the US, South Korea, Spain and Canada, such negative attitudes have reached their highest levels since these surveys began more than a decade ago, Pew said.
In many of these countries a majority had seen China positively just a few years ago.
In Japan, 86 percent are negative about China, in Australia 81 percent.
In Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, France, the USA and Canada it is around three quarters.
China: Alienation from the former role model USA - and Western culture
Conversely, the Chinese are increasingly alienating themselves from the once widely admired West.
There are no hard survey data from the People's Republic.
But a departure from the USA and Europe can still be observed on many levels.
According to observations by the two US experts Eyck Freymann and Brian YS Wong, young people in China have two main problems with the West.
The recent flood of hate crimes against immigrant Chinese and Asians in the USA reveals, from the Chinese point of view, an attitude of "white superiority" at the heart of Anglo-Saxon culture, write Freymann and Wong in the US journal
Foreign Policy
- in the form of " Fear of Ethnic Chinese and Contempt for Chinese Values ”.
In addition, according to young Chinese, the "failure of Western countries in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic proves that liberal democracy is inferior to Chinese meritocratic one-party rule."
Such views are relatively new - even if the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda has for decades emphasized the superiority of the Chinese system.
Only now do people seem to believe this too.
From a Western perspective, however, it is hardly conceivable that someone could voluntarily prefer life in a dictatorship.
Disinterest in other countries and prejudices: problem for the globalized world
But the globalized world has a problem when all people equate the inhabitants of other states with their respective government - and lose interest in one another.
Just like in Europe, not all people in China are militant nationalists: everywhere the loudest voices are heard first - as most recently in China those who called for a boycott of Western fashion companies such as H&M, Adidas or Nike in the conflict over Xinjiang.
Such boycotts never lasted long in China in the past - if things were different this time, that would be a turning point.
China: adapting marketing to local tastes - Nike has been quite successful so far
In general, western brands today have to adapt much more to the preferences of Chinese customers.
Young consumers are no longer caught with Western advertising or Western symbolism, quoted the Hong Kong
South China Morning Post
Liu Xin, creative director of a leading advertising agency: "Nowadays, young Chinese people prefer Chinese and Oriental elements regardless of product design or advertising creativity."
As an example, Liu cites Nike in the article, which is gradually weakening its image as a US brand and instead relies on the use of domestic opinion leaders and cultural concepts.
The concept worked until the current boycott.
Hollywood films are also falling in favor of Chinese cinema fans;
Young Chinese today are more likely to be inspired by trends in Japan and South Korea than by the West when it comes to fashion or music.
The focus on the familiar culture itself is normal - even in Asia.
Conversely, there is also little knowledge in the West about pop culture in East Asia - or even influence on western entertainment.
The few exceptions include the 2020 Oscar-winning Korean film “Parasite” and science fiction novels from China, which have more and more fans on the global scene.
China and the West: Negative views reinforce the tough course
What influence the mutual turning away in public opinion will have on international politics is still open. It will depend on how much governments align their policies with public opinion. Around nine out of ten adults in the United States see China more as a competitor or enemy than a partner, according to another Pew survey. Many Americans support a tough China course, for example economically or by restricting the number of Chinese students at US universities. 67 percent expressed "cold" feelings towards China on an 'emotional thermometer'. In this mood, pithy words and mutual sanctions for politicians are attractive instruments on all sides. Compromises, on the other hand, are unpopular. But they will be necessary again and again in a shrinking world.
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