Spaniards shift favorable opinion from US to China amid US’ negative policies: survey
A Spanish institute on Monday published a survey highlighting shifting perspectives among Spaniards amid the changing world. Among them, one striking result stands out: friendly impression toward the US is now below that expressed towards China. A Chinese expert stated that the shift in attitude stemmed from Spaniards' growing insecurity about the US narrow nationalist policies toward its allies. On the other hand, cooperation with China presents an opportunity for genuine, equal, and mutually beneficial collaboration.
The results were published in the 45th edition of the Barometer by the Real Instituto Elcano. It shows that support for the US in the tension between China and the US has dropped sharply among Spaniards, from 35 percent to 11 percent, according to Spanish media La Razon.
Most Spaniards believe that there is no risk to the EU in its current trend of rapprochement with China. However, more than a third of those interviewed do see a danger in this approach, either due to fear of reprisals from the US or concerns about becoming overly dependent on China.
According to the survey, Spaniards have reduced their friendly impression towards the US in favor of China after the arrival of the Trump administration.
Moreover, 61 percent believe that US President Trump's second term would have a "negative influence" on Spain, especially in relation to trade tensions.
The perception that the US could pose a threat to Spain has risen to 19 percent, according to the survey.
The current US administration's narrow nationalist stance on Europe's security and economic policies, along with pressuring allies to increase military spending, created a sense of insecurity among ordinary citizens in their dealings with the US, Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.
However, engagement with China, in contrast, emphasizes genuine equality and mutual benefit, said Li. He noted that more active people-to-people exchange lay a good foundation for interactions at official levels. Moreover, among NATO and European countries, Spain has handled China's bottom line and red lines issues well. Thus, there is a very strong and favorable atmosphere and environment for the friendly cooperative development of relations between China and Spain.
During his visit to China in April, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said China is an important partner of the EU, and Spain has always supported the stable development of EU-China relations, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Noting the EU is committed to open and free trade, upholds multilateralism and opposes unilateral tariff hikes, Sanchez said there is no winner in a trade war.
Spaniards still largely support remaining in NATO, with 85 percent of respondents in favor of the alliance. On the increase in defense spending, opinions are split: 49 percent support it, while 51 percent oppose it. However, most respondents believe that such spending should come from "Europe" as a whole.
In June, NATO members agreed to raise their defense spending target to 5 percent of GDP, as pushed by the US, but Spain said it would not comply just days before a summit in The Hague meant to be a show of unity, Reuters reported.