Andrew Singer Talks About China and America
Vol. 3, Issue 18
China in America's Eyes, from China
Though America still represents opportunity in certain Chinese circles, a prominent Chinese perspective argues that the U.S. has long exhibited and continues a history of racism and domination toward the country, often pursuing intimidation and containment.
According to Professor Xiang Shuchen, a Chinese political philosopher, the United States is an empire grounded in a racist ideology. She asserts that “economic value for American imperialism exists through undermining the economies of non-compliant others…[C]haos is propitious for the [American] disaster capitalism that profits off political instability.”1
In a recent interview, she added that “‘American foreign policy towards China is both driven and justified by the idea that China represents a force that is antithetical to civilization.’”2
Xiang criticizes America’s binary worldview, dividing peoples and places into “good” (us) and “evil” (them), where good must triumph and the ends justify the means. She accuses the U.S. of habitually choosing the easy path of tearing outsiders down instead of fostering its own positive development.
From her academic post in Xi’an, she offers a stark critique of America: It is a country with significant moral, political, and economic failures that scapegoats others, particularly China, rather than “confronting [its own] unsustainable contradictions,” such as an eroding middle class and an “oligarchic, neo-feudalist political economy.”3
In her work, Xiang draws on Jean-Paul Sartre’s analysis of anti-Semitism, paralleling it with American foreign policy, imperialism, and Sinophobia. She sees in America the realization of Sartre’s conclusion that “the anti-Semite ‘demands rigorous order for others, and for himself disorder without responsibility.’”4
The responses to such claims in the U.S. must vary widely. One side will acknowledge that there is merit in parts of her thesis and be saddened thereby. Another side will rebel with self-righteous indignation and be offended by the declarations. A third side simply won’t pay attention. Nevertheless, the Professor’s reasoned and researched opinion is one widely shared not only by Chinese leadership, but also across large swaths of the world (as well too by past American historians she cites in her work).
Chinese-Canadian opinion writer Alex Lo has echoed these sentiments, stating that over the past 200 years, the U.S. “has been responsible for more wars, invasions, armed conflicts and coups than any other nation.” He asserts that empire has always been tied to “torture, mass murder, and genocide” and that casting adversaries as “evil” helps obscure the horrors the U.S. has unleashed globally.5
Three years ago, I observed that “China sees an America that lives in the moment, seemingly without context or direction... cleaved in two by opposing philosophies, [rife with] intolerance, bitterness, violence, [and dysfunction].”6 That perception at best remains unchanged and has likely worsened. To many in China, the U.S. represents instability, fear of China’s rise, and an obsession with maintaining global dominance.
Whether we agree or disagree with these criticisms, they are worthy of study. For those who agree, this outside perspective offers a framework to address grievances and make concrete changes. For those who disagree, acknowledging and understanding that these views are real for those who hold them can also guide our efforts and actions moving forward, if we choose to engage.
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Xiang Shuchen, “Sinophobia, American Imperialism, Disorder Without Responsibility,” Sartre Studies International, Volume 28, Issue 2, 2022, Pages 42-66, 43, https://warpweftandway.com/xiang-on-sinophobia/.
Xiang Shuchen, “Sinophobia, American Imperialism, Disorder Without Responsibility,” Page 51.
Id. at Page 54.
Thanks for the article and the references Andrew. How ro change this state of affairs in America, and in the West generally. How do we get the majority of Americans involved in such a discourse? Also, we in Australasia are just as biased.
Andrew, I always enjoy reading your insights. Unfortunately these scholars conflate US government policy and its pugnacious "us vs. them" mentality vs. going out to US streets ato talk to the people...and the people are incredibly various in their attitudes, educational awareness and acceptance of US policies. We know this. Chinese scholars are living within the bubble of their own acceptance of a single party system and craven conformity to another lifelong leader, Xi Jinping, who is threatening invasion and bloodshed in Taiwan. Power, bloodshed, vanity, enrichment of the few, macho kid games: it's an old story in both our countries. While we can certainly accept that the US has fomented terrible aggression and destruction of unfriendly regimes worldwide —in South America, for example, in the Middle East, in Southeast Asia, it can hardly be said that China has played fair with the Uyghurs, the pirating of US intellectual property, and the relentless encouragement of hacking, spying, and censoring very reasonable people within China who want some shred of democracy. To me, it's a plague on both our house. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. China can't play the good guy on this; we're both at fault.