Australian trust in China grows as belief in US hits record low

Lead

The Lowy Institute's annual poll has found that Australian trust in the United States to act responsibly in the world has fallen to a record low of 31%, while trust in China continues to climb, narrowing the gap between the two superpowers to just three points. The survey, a closely watched barometer of Australian attitudes towards global affairs, also revealed that a majority of Australians now consider their country's relationship with China more important than the one with the US.

Coverage comparison

Reporting on the findings, three news organisations highlighted different aspects of the poll. ABC Australia focused on the record low trust in the US and the enduring importance of the US alliance, noting that 73% of Australians still consider the alliance important for security. The Guardian emphasised a historic decline in support for multiculturalism and a rise in economic pessimism, while the South China Morning Post drew attention to the "unprecedented shift" in Australian public opinion towards China.

The poll, conducted by the Social Research Centre using a nationally representative sample, has been tracked closely by diplomats in Canberra, according to ABC Australia. The Guardian noted that the survey is Australia's longest-running measure of public opinion on world affairs.

Key claims

Trust in the US at record low

Only 31% of Australians said they trusted the US to act responsibly in the world, a five-point drop compared with last year and the lowest figure ever recorded by the poll, as reported by ABC Australia, The Guardian, and the South China Morning Post. In 2022, that figure stood at 65%.

Trust in China rising

Trust in China has risen for the fourth consecutive year, reaching 28% in this year's survey, according to the South China Morning Post. ABC Australia and The Guardian reported the rise from 20% to 28%, while the South China Morning Post noted the increase from 12% to 28% since 2022. Charles Lyons-Jones, the Lowy Institute's poll author and a research fellow, described the narrowing gap as an "extraordinary milestone," marking the first time "the two superpowers are distrusted in equal measure," as quoted by The Guardian.

Confidence in world leaders

Only 21% of Australians said they trust US President Donald Trump to do the right thing in global affairs, the lowest level of confidence in any US president in the history of the poll, as reported by ABC Australia and the South China Morning Post. This figure is almost identical to the 20% of Australians who expressed trust in Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to ABC Australia and The Guardian.

US alliance still valued

Despite the low trust in the US and President Trump, 73% of Australians said the US alliance is "very" or "fairly" important to Australia's security, according to ABC Australia. This represents a sharp drop from 83% in the previous poll, the outlet reported.

China relationship prioritised

In an unprecedented shift, 51% of Australians said the relationship with China was more important than that with the US, compared with 45% who said America should take priority, as reported by the South China Morning Post. This figure was carried by that outlet alone.

Economic pessimism and safety concerns

The Guardian reported that 59% of Australians are pessimistic about the country's economic performance over the coming five years, up 12 percentage points from a year earlier and 22 percentage points since the 2022 poll. The same report noted that 53% of Australians feel "unsafe" or "very unsafe" in the world, a level three percentage points below the previous record low set in 2020 at the onset of Covid.

Multiculturalism support declines

The Guardian also reported a 17 percentage-point plunge in the share of people who say cultural diversity has been good for the country, describing it as a "historic decline" in support for multiculturalism. This finding was not mentioned in the other two reports.

Perspectives

Lowy Institute: Charles Lyons-Jones, the poll's author, attributed the decline in trust to the Trump administration's policies, saying Australians had a "strong distaste for Trumpism and his policy agenda." He pointed to specific actions, such as pressuring Denmark to relinquish sovereign control and using tariffs to coerce other countries, as widely disapproved by Australians. He also commented on Australians' deep unease with the world today, saying, "When Australians look at the world today they are deeply unsettled."