COVID-19, Perceived Foreign Interference, and Anti-Chinese Sentiment: Evidence from Concurrent Survey Experiments in Australia and the United States

Figures & data

Figure 1. Biweekly confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in Australia and the United States, January 2020-January 2023.

Table 1. Sample Demographics.

	Min	Max	Australia (N = 544)			United States (N = 597)
			Proportion	Standard Deviation	2021 Census	Proportion	Standard Deviation	2019 Estimates
Political affiliation: Labor (A.U.)/Democrat (US)	0	1	30%	0.46	–	39%	0.49	–
Political affiliation: Coalition (A.U.)/Republican (US)	0	1	35%	0.48	–	25%	0.43	–
Political affiliation: Greens (A.U.)/Independent (US)	0	1	11%	0.31	–	28%	0.45	–
Political affiliation: Voted other/did not vote	0	1	24%	0.42	–	8%	0.27	–
Age: between 18 and 39	0	1	26%	0.44	36%†	21%	0.40	37%†
Age: between 40 and 64	0	1	43%	0.50	41%†	46%	0.50	45%†
Age: 65 or above	0	1	31%	0.46	23%†	34%	0.47	18%†
Gender (1 = woman)	0	1	52%	0.50	51%	54%	0.50	51%
Education (1 = bachelor’s degree or above)	0	1	39%	0.49	26%‡	30%	0.46	32%¶
Employment (1 = employed)	0	1	53%	0.50	58%‡	40%	0.49	52%
Low income: less than AU$50,000/US$40,000	0	1	40%	0.49	–§	33%	0.47	–§
Middle income: between AU$50,000/US$40,000 and AU$99,999/US$79,999	0	1	26%	0.44	–§	26%	0.44	–§
High income: AU$100,000/US$80,000 or above	0	1	24%	0.43	–§	26%	0.44	–§
Missing income	0	1	10%	0.30	–§	15%	0.35	–§
Race: White	0	1	–	–	–	65%	0.48	60%††
Race: Black	0	1	–	–	–	14%	0.35	13%††
Race: Hispanic	0	1	–	–	–	14%	0.35	19%‡‡
Race: Asian	0	1	–	–	–	3%	0.16	6%††
Race: Others	0	1	–	–	–	4%	0.20	–††
Race (regrouped): White§§	0	1	84%	0.37	–	–	–	–
Race (regrouped): Asian§§	0	1	14%	0.35	–	–	–	–
Race (regrouped): Others§§	0	1	2%	0.14	–	–	–	–

Note. † Our survey covered those people aged 18 or above. To facilitate comparison, we converted census data by dividing the number of people within our categories by the number of people aged 20 or above. ‡ Of people aged 15 or above. An additional 8% did not state their educational status in the Census. An additional 6% did not state whether they participated in the labour force. § The median household income in Australia was AU$1,746 a week in 2021 (equivalent to AU$90,792 a year). The median household income in the U.S. was US$62,843 a year in 2015–2019 (in 2019 dollars). ¶ Of people aged 25 or above. †† Includes people reporting only one race. ‡‡ Hispanics may be of any race. §§ In Australia, following the Census practice, we included the question ‘Which of the following best describes your racial or ethnic background?’ and provided the respondents with the 13 options with the highest populations, the 14th option, ‘Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander’, and the 15th option, ‘Other, please specify’. We regrouped Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Indonesian, and Japanese as the Asian group, English, Australian, Irish, Scottish, Italian, and German as the White group, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander as the other race group, and went through open responses individually to re-classify them as appropriate.

Data source: Australia Census 2021 (https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS); U.S. Census 2019 Estimates (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219).

Table 2. Background Questions

	Min	Max	Australia			United States			Australia vs United States†
			N	Mean	Standard Deviation	N	Mean	Standard Deviation
Chinese government responsible for COVID	1 (not at all responsible)	4 (completely responsible)	544	2.58	1.06	597	2.58	1.03	z-value = 0.05, p = 0.96
Allowing Chinese people to study, work, and live	1 (strongly oppose)	5 (strongly favour)	544	3.45	1.25	597	3.32	1.25	z-value = 1.97, p = 0.05
There’s no discrimination (2021)	0 (no)	1 (yes)	544	0.15	0.35	597	0.10	0.31	X^2-value = 2.12, p = 0.03
Change in discrimination since COVID (2021)	1 (much less discrimination)	5 (much more discrimination)	465	3.68	0.84	535	4.17	0.97	z-value =  4.50, p = 0.03
There’s no discrimination (2022)	0 (no)	1 (yes)	544	0.09	0.29	597	0.07	0.26	X^2-value = 1.12, p = 0.26
Change in discrimination since COVID (2022)	1 (much less discrimination)	5 (much more discrimination)	495	3.56	0.87	495	3.84	0.98	z-value = 3.78, p = 0.05
2021 vs 2022‡
There’s no discrimination				X^2-value = 57.79, p = 0.00			X^2-value = 102.75, p = 0.00
Change in discrimination since COVID				z-value =  3.40, p = 0.00			z-value =  2.52, p = 0.02

Note. † Two-sample Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests were used for ordinal data, producing z-values, while Chi-square tests were employed for nominal data, yielding X²-values. ‡ Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used for ordinal data, producing z-values, while Chi-square tests were employed for nominal, yielding X²-values.

Table 3. Survey Experiments.

	Min	Max	Australia			United States			Australia vs. United States†
			N	Mean	Standard Deviation	N	Mean	Standard Deviation
Survey experiment #1, thermometer ratings to Chinese temporary residents
pooled	0	100	544	52.45	25.45	597	55.33	28.60	z-value = −1.67, p = 0.10
control	0	100	270	52.79	25.79	291	55.53	27.31	z-value = −1.50, p = 0.13
treatment	0	100	274	52.20	25.16	306	55.13	29.81	z-value = −0.89, p = 0.38
control = treatment†			z-value = −0.31, p = 0.76			z-value = 0.27, p = 0.78
Survey experiment #1, thermometer ratings to permanent residents/citizens with Chinese heritage
pooled	0	100	544	64.33	26.32	597	71.16	27.28	z-value = −4.85, p = 0.00
control	0	100	270	64.31	27.13	291	70.26	26.71	z-value = −2.83, p = 0.00
treatment	0	100	274	64.35	25.55	306	72.01	27.83	z-value = −3.99, p = 0.00
control = treatment†			z-value = 0.09, p = 0.93			z-value = −1.00, p = 0.32
Survey experiment #2
pooled	1 (very untrustworthy)	5 (very trustworthy)	544	3.25	0.96	597	3.45	0.91	z-value = −3.05, p = 0.00
control	1 (very untrustworthy)	5 (very trustworthy)	274	3.37	0.89	301	3.52	0.90	z-value = −1.67, p = 0.10
treatment	1 (very untrustworthy)	5 (very trustworthy)	270	3.13	1.01	296	3.38	0.91	z-value = −2.69, p = 0.00
control vs. treatment†			z-value = 2.72, p = 0.00			z-value = 1.75, p = 0.08

Note. † Two-sample Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests were employed to calculate z-values.