<span style="color: #222222;">Negative perceptions of China have increased sharply among people in several advanced democracies, especially in Australia and Britain, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center released yesterday.<br />''<br />''The survey comes as China is engaged in multiple trade and diplomatic disputes with its neighbors and other countries, driven in part by a more aggressive diplomatic approach.<br />''<br />''The survey conducted in 14 democratic countries with advanced economies showed a majority of people had an unfavorable view of China. It was conducted from June 10 to Aug 3 among 14,276 adults across the 14 countries via telephone.<br />''<br />''In Australia, 81% said they have an unfavorable view of China, according to the survey, a rise of 24 percentage points from last year. While the survey showed Australia had the sharpest increase in negative attitudes toward China, other countries also showed an upward trend: Those with an unfavourable view toward China hit 74% in Britain, a rise of 19 percentage points compared to last year; 71% in Germany, a rise of 15 points; and 73% in the U.S., a rise of 13 points. The 14 countries surveyed were the U.S., Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., Australia, Japan and South Korea.<br />''<br />''Further, in nine of the surveyed countries ' Spain, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the US, UK, South Korea, Sweden and Australia ' negative views have reached their highest level in the 12 or more years that the center has been conducting the survey in those countries, according to Pew Research Center.<br />''<br />''One of the most important factors with regard to China's reputation abroad has been the coronavirus. The survey found a majority held a negative view of how China has handled the coronavirus, with a median of 61% across the 14 countries saying China had handled the outbreak poorly.</span><br />