Views of China have grown more negative in recent years across many advanced economies, and unfavorable opinion has soared since 2020, a 14-country Pew Research Center survey shows.

Unfavorable views of China reach historic highs in many countries: Majorities say China has handled COVID-19 outbreak poorly.

Pew Research Center

Currently, a majority in each of the surveyed countries has an unfavorable opinion of China.

And in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, South Korea, Spain, and Canada, negative views have reached their highest points since the Pew Research Center began polling on this topic more than a decade ago.

Xi Jinping is now telling his comrades, be best.

Xi urged Chinese officials to create a "trustworthy, lovable, and respectable" image for the country, in a sign that Beijing may be looking to smooth its hard-edged diplomatic approach.

Too much wolf and not enough panda.

Xi told senior Communist Party leaders Monday (May 31, 2021) that the country must "make friends extensively, unite the majority, and continuously expand its circle of friends with those who understand and are friendly to China," according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Bloomberg reports Beijing needed "a grip on tone" in its communication with the world and should "be open and confident, but also modest and humble."

China has increasingly hit back against perceived violations of its core interests by foreign countries with trade measures, travel bans, and diplomatic protests -- an approach sometimes criticized as "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy.

"Wolf Warrior" diplomacy describes an aggressive style adopted by current Chinese diplomats and encouraged by Xi.

"Wolf Warrior" diplomacy was coined from a Rambo-style Chinese action film, Wolf Warrior 2.