By Jia Mei
Webinar hosted by Dr. Emily Chan at Colorado College, Joined by five panelists: Dr. John Williams (Colorado College), Dr. Christian Sorace (Colorado College), Dr. Keisha A. Brown (Tennessee State University), Dr. Catherine Liu (University of California, Irvine), and Dr. Maria Repnikova (Georgia State University).
Amidst the increasing political tensions between the United States and China—arising from both the trade war and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic—US politicians have used anti-Chinese rhetoric to suit various political agendas. These include scapegoating China to cover up the US mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of “Chinese Virus” among other anti-Chinese rhetoric has led to a climate of fear and “Othering” for Asian Americans and Chinese nationals abroad, as seen increased hate crimes towards Asian Americans in the US. This phenomenon of widespread Sinophobia is not new to the US. In this webinar, panelists called for a reflection on the history of American sinophobia and the implication of this trend for current global politics.
Dr. Chan, Professor of Psychology at Colorado College (CC), began the webinar with a land acknowledgement to the Indigenous Peoples of Colorado, Tennessee, Georgia, and California.
Dr. Williams started with a brief history of American sinophobia. The first wave of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. came as migrant workers during the Gold Rush in the mid-19th century. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to prevent further Chinese immigration into the US. This was the first and only law that prevented a single ethnic group from entering the U.S. Such 19th-century xenophobic rhetoric manifested itself in society in forms of propaganda such as books and popular media depicting Chinese Americans as “filthy and sneaky” stealing White Americans’ jobs. The Chinese were seen as a threat to the American way of life. This led to violent massacres of Chinese communities in the West. Dr. Williams points out in a cautionary tone how the current climate of anxiety and sinophobia echoes the events from the late 19th century, and he stresses the importance of Sino-American cooperation rather than division.
Dr. Sorace, professor of Political Science at CC, shows how the Anti-Chinese discourse is a tactic to shift public attention away from the political, social, and economic crisis facing the US. Instead of addressing racism and healthcare inequity within the US, the U.S. conjured up “the spectre of a Communist enemy.” Sorace points out the need for the US to have China as its antithesis “so that it [the U.S.] can appear to itself as the defender of democracy without actually undergoing democratic transformation.” Sorace directs our attention to the flaws within various systems in the US.
Dr. Brown, professor of History at TN State University, discussed the marginalized history of Black and Chinese communities. During the post-Civil War and post-Chinese Exclusion Act period, both belonging and citizenship for Black and Chinese people were in question. It was a question of who got to stay and who had to leave. This pitting of racialized groups against one another was called comparative racialization, which Brown acknowledged was at the core of the American social fabric. Brown prompts us to think of ways to build solidarity between Afro-Asian communities to dismantle the structure of comparative racialization.
Dr. Repnikova, professor of Global Communications at Georgia State University, brought the issue of American sinophobia into a global political perspective. She notes the danger of the US viewing China’s global expansion through the lens of influence operations and authoritarian model diffusion. She points out the limitations of the US inflaming this ideological competition with China, which includes decreased intellectual and cultural exchange, and decreased understanding between the US and China.
Dr. Liu, professor of Film and Media Studies at UC Irvine, discussed how 20th-century Cold War comparative literature was framed as anti-Communist to win the hearts of Americans. She mentions how the current sinophobic rhetoric during the pandemic era echoes that of the Cold War, where China was seen as a “terrifying other” and a “racialized other.” She stresses the dangers of painting China with one brush, calling for a more critical lens to evaluate China.
The webinar concluded with a Q&A session where panelists gave suggestions and advice for students. They called for students to critically evaluate the US political agendas that are met through the use of anti-Chinese rhetoric. They acknowledged the difficulties for students to simultaneously object to American sinophobia and oppose China’s human rights violations vis-a-vis Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Finally, they encouraged students to ask questions, engage in conversations about social movements, and think of ways to build coalitions between groups, demonstrating transnational and transracial solidarity.
