Sinophobia

December 20th, 2024

China’s in America’s headlines a lot. To hear them say it, China is a nation of intellectual copycats, mass laborers, ruled over a singular autocrat. The language is racist. “Oh, we’re talking about the CCP, not Chinese people” but when have you heard them report on anything good about the Chinese people? Not the economic miracle, but the actual people or culture?

I feel the resentment boils up in me, but why? It’s hardly surprising that American news is racist. Where does this anger “as a Chinese” come from?

Second off, it’s important to understand that in contrast to America, China is racial, linguistic, cultural, and political identity. Yes, that’s a simplification. But let’s not quibble over how long the coast of Britain is or how informed we are. Yes, we are all individuals, but we are also raised by a village and live within a context. Standing from the shores of the West and for the purposes of discussion, China is an identity. I can say, “Chinese” and your average Western sees that identity.

Understanding the modern China identity must start with understanding its century of humiliation. A century of exploitation. Yes, but its own rulers, but also very much by foreign powers. And it’s different when a foreigner exploits you. When their skin defines them as different, as better. And worse yet, the West has “forgiven” itself for its actions. Everyone talks about the Holocaust. Who talks about the Opium Wars or the Rape of Nanjing? America still supports Japan, who still has a imperial dynasty that presided over systemic killings and comfort women. Imagine if we’d defeated the Nazi’s but kept a symbolic, inheritable position called the “Fuhrer”, reserved for the descendants of Hitler. “Oh that’s different” you might rush to say, but after your defensiveness and outrage subside, ask yourself, are the differences the point? Or are the similarities the point?

Modern China is a rebuttal to that humiliation. The big, gleaming cities and obsession with luxury brands and everything else. It is that Pretty Woman moment, walking into the boutique and getting to say, “Big mistake. Big. Huge!” It’s me buying myself my first Nike’s after a childhood of being laughed at for wearing Walmart-bought Dr. Scholes (yes they make shoes, not just insoles).

One of the things I treasure the most about Taiwan’s cultural identity is the absence of that trauma. Their cities feel lived in, with cute corners and a polite noisiness. They’ve created exportable culture, which is matters a ton. Exportable culture is a kind of confidence, a willingness to try and share your identity with the global market for judgment and competition. Taiwan is not without its flaws, but we can learn from their strengths without deducting their weaknesses, no?

I mostly write this for myself and any other Chinese-American struggling with the rising tide of sinophobia (fuck, even my spellchecker doesn’t recognize sinophobia as a real word, but antisemitism is). America’s caricature of China is a necessary part of its national competition with China. It’s important to not let it affect your own self-perception and self-respect. To hold your own quiet pride without letting their ignorance affect you.