Trump’s ‘vacillating’ China policy causing allies’ crisis of confidence: security report

The United States has appeared “more threatening” over the past year, while perceptions of China have improved markedly in parts of the Western world, according to a global risk survey released on Monday.The same report, released in the lead-up to the Munich Security Conference (MSC) this week, also accused Beijing of “increasingly threatening regional stability” in the Indo-Pacific, while warning that President Donald Trump’s “vacillating” China policy was causing a “crisis of confidence” among US allies.The report included the Munich Security Index, which tracked major risks across 11 countries.It drew on surveys conducted last year of more than 11,000 people from all Group of Seven powers – the US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan – and original Brics members Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, excluding Russia.In eight of the 10 countries other than the US, more respondents viewed Washington as an ally than as a threat.08:31What China’s swift ousting of two top military generals means for the PLAWhat China’s swift ousting of two top military generals means for the PLABut the poll, carried out in November, revealed a universal decline in US approval ratings. The favourable-minus-unfavourable margin – a measure of net favourability – shrank from the previous year’s gauge across all the non-US nations covered.