Most adults in America and China view other side as enemies or unfriendly, suggesting there may be a political pay-off in exploiting tensions

• Most adults in China and the US view the other side as unfriendly or an enemy, a new poll shows.
• 66% of Chinese adults and 64% of US adults hold this view, a Morning Consult poll showed.

Roughly two-thirds of adults in both China and the US view "the other side as an enemy or unfriendly," according to a new Morning Consult poll.

In China, 66% of adults view the US as an enemy or unfriendly. Meanwhile, 64% of US adults said the same about China, though more Republicans (73%) held that view than Democrats (63%).

Enmity toward the US among Chinese adults has softened over the past six months, Morning Consult said in its summary of the findings, but "US views of China have hardened."

Morning Consult cited House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan over the summer, which prompted China to hold provocative military drills near the island, as a flashpoint in this dynamic.

"Beijing's militant response to the visit saw a spike in Chinese fears of escalating military tensions, while the share of US adults, and especially Democrats, who cite Taiwan as the most important bilateral issue to address has trended upward," Morning Consult said.

This new data comes amid a period of historic animosity between Washington and Beijing. As China's influence has grown across the globe in recent years in concert with rising authoritarianism from Chinese leader Xi Jinping, politicians on both sides of the aisle in the US have become increasingly hawkish toward Beijing. President Joe Biden has said that the US and China are in a competition to win the 21st century, as Chinese leaders constantly rail against the US and accuse it of harboring a "Cold War mentality."

Morning Consult's polling suggests that this trend is likely to continue, as leaders look to capitalize on the enmity.

"Republican control of the House of Representatives after the midterms risks putting relations on a more antagonistic footing owing to Republicans' greater enmity toward China," Morning Consult said in its report on the data.

That said, the polling also showed that majorities in both countries — more than seven-in-10 adults in China and the US respectively — "agree the two countries should work together to reduce military and economic tensions."

After a meeting between Biden and Xi last month, the White House underscored that the US would continue to compete with China but also emphasized that the president told his Chinese counterpart that Washington and Beijing "must work together to address transnational challenges."

Overall, relations between the two remain historically contentious, with few signs that either side is willing to take substantive steps to lower the temperature.