GLOBAL SURVEY: PEOPLE THINK CHINA HANDLED PANDEMIC BETTER THAN US

Far more people around the world think China has responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic than those who think the United States has done a good job, a poll by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation showed on Monday, Marine Strauss reported for Reuters late on June 15, 2020.

The survey of more than 120,000 people from 53 countries by the think tank and German polling data firm Dalia Research found that even in democratic countries, 45% of people thought their governments had limited too many freedoms during the pandemic.

“COVID-19 is also a litmus test for democracy,” said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, chairman of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation and a former NATO secretary general. “It should act as a wake-up call to democratic leaders that people want more democracy and freedom after COVID-19,” he said.

More than 60% of people surveyed thought China had responded well to the pandemic, while only a third around the world thought the US response had been effective. Just over half of those surveyed in the US thought their government had responded well, however. The survey found that most Chinese think the US has a negative influence on democracy globally. People in Brazil, France, the US, Italy and the UK felt their governments handled the situation badly.