At a recent social gathering in Hong Kong, I was introduced to an American visitor who expressed surprise that I am a columnist for China Daily. He had assumed that China Daily, as a State-owned newspaper, was purely a mouthpiece for the People’s Republic of China, and was astonished that a Westerner who is not a Party member was able to express his independent views in its pages. He was even more astonished that I had complete freedom to submit articles on whatever subject I chose and that the newspaper editors, while naturally retaining the right to accept or reject my offerings, never tried to control or censor what I wrote.
When asked about my motivation for writing, I explained that as a long-term Hong Kong resident I had become increasingly frustrated by the distorted portrayal of Hong Kong and China as a whole in the Western media, especially since the protests and riots of 2019. Rather than ignoring this injustice, I had decided to do my bit in trying to counter the persistent anti-Hong Kong and anti-China narratives by simply writing about how things really are. The themes for my articles then evolved to cover a broader range of topics, generally with some historical or political content, but always trying to give a balanced perspective.
My new American friend was clearly intrigued by meeting a Westerner who didn’t subscribe to the narrative on China that he was accustomed to in the United States. He confirmed what I already knew, that China is generally depicted in the US as the country’s main enemy or threat. He asked me why I thought that was. At this point our conversation was cut short by the arrival of new guests bearing drinks and clearly in party mode. This was probably just as well, as a social gathering wasn’t really the best time for a lengthy exposition on Sino-American relations. I did, however, suggest that he keep his eye on China Daily as I would endeavor to answer his question in my next article.
So — why is it that the US seems determined to portray China as public enemy number one? My old history teacher used to say, “Cottam, there are three reasons for everything; four sounds pretentious and two won’t impress the examiner.” With this excellent advice in mind, here are three reasons for American animosity toward China.
Hong Kong, as a part of China, and in spite of its “one country, two systems” constitutional arrangement, is very much included in this narrative. So if you ever meet any American visitors at a social function in Hong Kong, please explain all of the above to them, at least until the arrival of convivial party guests bearing drinks
First, during Donald Trump’s first term and Joe Biden’s presidency, the US increasingly came to regard China as a threat to the American economy. This reflects the more adversarial mindset which the US has now adopted in how it sees economic competitors. Whereas in China there is generally a win-win mentality, steeped in Confucian thinking and aiming for harmonious, respectful, cooperative relations with competitors, the mindset of many in the US now tends to be more of an adversarial, zero-sum game, with one side winning and the other losing. Such thinking underpins the vision of a hegemonic world order characterized by American dominance. In this mindset, any economic advance by another power is automatically seen as a potential threat. Rather than accepting the idea of a more balanced, multipolar world, or the need to work in cooperation with competing states, America’s knee-jerk reaction during the previous two administrations has been increasingly to go on the attack and try to weaken its perceived main economic adversary. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the US has become accustomed to being the world’s only superpower. This is now being challenged by the remarkable expansion of China’s economy and its growing leadership across the globe through developments such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the expansion of the BRICS group of countries, and China’s championing of the Global South. All this is seen by many in the US as an economic threat which it has to counter rather than constructively engage with.
The second reason for US animosity toward China is the age-old one of needing an external “enemy”, portrayed as an existential military threat, to unify the nation, distract from domestic grievances, bolster the image of strong leadership, and justify military expenditure. The last of these is particularly significant for the US, where what former president Dwight Eisenhower dubbed the “military-industrial complex” is at the heart of its economy. After the demise of the Soviet Union, and despite Russia’s recent flexing of its muscles in Ukraine, an ascendant China is now seen as the preferred candidate to fulfil the useful role of a credible but unspecified military threat to the US. This is despite China not fighting in any war or instigating regime change anywhere in the world over the past 45 years, in sharp contrast to the superpower now pushing the “China threat” narrative.
The third reason for US hostility toward China is rooted in America’s evangelical approach toward democracy and its avowed hatred of communist regimes. This is ironic given that the US is classified as a “flawed democracy” by the Economist Democracy Index, and China is now a mixed economy with a strong private enterprise sector and entrepreneurial spirit. Nevertheless, perception rather than reality underpins this third strand of American animosity toward “communist China” and the irrational fear that Beijing’s mission is to spread communist ideology to the rest of the world.
The result of these three strands of hostility toward China is the persistent anti-China narrative adopted by so many US politicians and amplified by those sections of the media always happy to publicize anything portrayed as a national threat or un-American. This narrative is made easier to swallow by the long-held suspicions of China which are so embedded in American popular culture. Fear of the “yellow peril” and fictitious Chinese villains such as the evil Fu Manchu were prejudiced 20th century stereotypes that still leave a legacy in modern America. Such ingrained stereotyping provides fertile ground for the idea that China has designs to undermine the American economy, threaten the US militarily, and spread a communist ideology to the West. These are the three big myths which form the current US anti-China narrative.
Hong Kong, as a part of China, and in spite of its “one country, two systems” constitutional arrangement, is very much included in this narrative. So if you ever meet any American visitors at a social function in Hong Kong, please explain all of the above to them, at least until the arrival of convivial party guests bearing drinks.
The author is a British historian and former principal of Sha Tin College, an international secondary school in Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
