NEW YORK CITY, New York: A survey released last week by the Pew Research Center showed unfavorable opinions about China among Americans have hit a new high, with more than 90 percent of adults in the U.S. saying China’s partnership with Russia is a problem.

As Western governments have complained about Beijing using economic and military coercion to exert its will around the world, negative views toward China in the U.S. and many other advanced economies have increased in recent years.

China and Russia also have developed closer relations, including the announcement, in February, of a “no limits” partnership weeks before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which Beijing has not yet condemned.

Pew said some two-thirds of the survey’s 3,581 American adult respondents described China as a major threat, a rise of 5 percentage points since 2020 and 23 points since the first such survey in 2013.

According to the survey, which was conducted in March, the number of Americans who have unfavorable views of China increased 6 points over 2021 to 82 percent, a new high, Pew added.

“Americans are acutely concerned about the partnership between China and Russia,” Pew said, noting that 92 percent of those surveyed described China and Russia as a somewhat serious problem for the U.S., while 62 percent said it was a “very serious problem.”

The Biden administration stressed that China will face serious consequences if it provides material support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but there is no evidence of this happening yet.

China blamed U.S. politicians, media and think tanks for shaping a negative perception among Americans.

This week, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing in Beijing, “Following some U.S. politicians’ unscrupulous and shameless attacks on China, some U.S. media spread rumors and some U.S. think tanks smeared China.”