Australians' trust in China plummets to lowest level

Australians’ attitudes towards China are hardening, according to a recent Australian poll that points to plummeting trust in China and its President Xi Jinping.

Australians’ trust in China to act in the world’s best interests has plummeted, highlighting their government’s challenge in mending a worsening diplomatic spat with its largest trading partner.

Polling was conducted by The Lowy Institute, a major  foreign policy thinktank in Australia. The survey found only 23 per cent of Australians trust China "a great deal" or "somewhat" to act responsibly in the world, a 29 point fall from two years ago.

More Australians trust the US to act responsibly at 50 per cent, but that is also a 30 point drop than its 2009 high point.

Almost all Australians surveyed (94 per cent) want Australia to look at other governments and reduce economic reliance on China.

The polling was undertaken before the effects of the pandemic on Australia were truly known, and before Australia's relationship with China soured significantly, but average Australians had already listed economic reliance on the country as a concern.

At the same time, more Australians than last year said the relationship with America was very or fairly important. Just 30 per cent of Australians had confidence in US President Donald Trump to do the right thing while in office, although that was a six point increase on last year.

Research fellow at the Lowy Institute Natasha Kassam, who ran the polling, said it wasn't necessarily surprising to see an increase in the importance of the US relationship.

"At a time where Australians feel insecure and pessimistic about the economy they look to friends," Ms Kassam said.

"The history and our alliance with the United States still provides a level of security Australians see as important, but that doesn't change the fact that Australian are sceptical of President Trump and his America first policies, and trust in the United States remains at historically low levels."

"Last year in our poll three-quarters of Australians worried we were too economically dependent on China, now 94 per cent of Australians say we need to diversify.

Ms Kassam said it was an unprecedented time of anxiety in the community at the time of the polling but the Lowy poll was always taken in March and "all we can ever do with polls like these is treat them like a snapshot in time".