This report is a result of a large-scale online survey of public opinion in Mainland China, conducted between 9-23 March 2022,3 with a research sample (N=3039) representative of the Chinese population with respect to gender, age (18-65 years), and country region. This survey is part of a broader research project ‘Sinophone Borderlands – Interaction at the Edges’, funded by the European Regional Development Fund. As part of this project, a series of public opinion surveys have been conducted in various parts of the world. We sum up some of the findings from the Mainland China survey here, especially in relation to Chinese views of Russia, the US, and international affairs. More outcomes from this research project will follow in future, focusing on a number of more concrete issues.

Overall, Chinese respondents expressed very positive views of Russia and very negative views of the US. In fact, of the 25 countries respondents were asked about, Russia was the most positively perceived country, while the US was the most negatively perceived. As our survey was collected at the height of the Chinese public and media attention towards the Russia-Ukraine war (and before the escalation of the Covid-19 in China in late March), these results suggest that the Chinese public was not disturbed by the Russian aggression, and even appeared to support Russia.

This is consistent with available qualitative studies of Chinese official and social media, which show how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been portrayed not as an act of unprovoked aggression against a sovereign nation, but as a rightful response to US and NATO’s “bullying” of Russia. Russia appears to be strongly supported in resisting what is redefined as American aggression.