Polishing method and polishing composition

A method of polishing an object to be polished, the method comprising:

• preparing a polishing composition, and
• supplying the polishing composition to the object to be polished, and polishing the object to be polished,
• wherein during the polishing step, the polishing composition supplied to the object to be polished has an initial pH and the polishing composition flowing from the object to be polished has a rise in pH of less than 2.0 relative to the initial pH,
• wherein the polishing composition comprises permanganate, a metal salt A, and water,
• the metal salt A is a salt of a metal cation having a pKa of less than 7.0 in form of a hydrated metal ion, and an anion,
• the concentration of the metal salt A is 8 mM or more, and
• the object to be polished has a surface formed of silicon carbide.