Only 13 per cent of respondents in the poll by the Global Times newspaper described China as “peaceful”, a sign that Beijing’s territorial disputes with its Asian neighbours have taken a toll on its image. It also concluded that “the closer you are to China, the more likely you are to have a negative view of it”. With the exception of rivals such as the US or Japan, state-run media coverage of relations with other countries normally concentrates on the positive, and it is rare for criticism of China to be reported. But in the survey of 14,400 people in 14 countries, 30 per cent of respondents called China “confident” in international affairs, with 29 per cent describing it as “belligerent”, while “complicated” was chosen by 28 per cent.