Declining US Soft Power in East Asia: Evaluations of the US COVID-19 Response by Citizens of China, Japan, and South Korea

A country's ability to handle emergencies reflects its soft power. This study examines how Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean citizens evaluated the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the differences among them. Cross-national surveys were conducted in these three East Asian countries. The results showed that all three countries' citizens unfavorably evaluated the U.S. performance in dealing with COVID-19. However, Japanese and South Korean citizens, to a certain degree, acknowledged the U.S. contribution to international cooperation to control the pandemic, whereas Chinese citizens maintained a negative evaluation thereof. National ingroup identity, such as belief in the superiority of one's home country's political system and nationalist orientations, along with relative comparisons between one's home country and the United States, predicted evaluations of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese public exhibited a different reaction pattern than their Japanese and South Korean counterparts. The results elucidated the political-psychological underpinnings of evaluating a foreign country and highlighted the changing international relations in East Asia from the perspective of ordinary people.