China, a country liberals and conservatives both dislike

[OceanEcosystem]

It seems to me that antipathy towards China runs pretty deep among liberals and conservatives alike - and among the general American populace as a whole. It's very hard to find a politician with mostly good things to say about China, and in fact it seems that one who does hold a high view of China would do so at his own peril (with regards to votes.) Criticizing China seems a pretty sure way of making oneself appear strong during an election.


I strongly dislike China myself, so I think this is a good trend, but it just seems worthy of mention.

[Franker65]

1. Absolutely right, most Americans fear China

A militarised China that is. 51% of Americans fear a powerful China, according to statistics. Of course the Chinese certainly do their best to be disliked with their extensive human rights abuses, censorship and territorial claims in the South China Sea. Americans are also struggling to come to terms with a China that could very well bypass them militarily. I thik China's dislike among Americans is certainly understandable.

[OceanEcosystem]

2. Yes, it's time that countries stood up to China.

Especially its ludicrous and absurd territorial claims in the South China Sea. To use an analogy, it would be as if the state of Illinois were claiming all of Lake Michigan - a lake also bordered by Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana - for itself.

[Cleita]

8. Those islands is what this is about.

Are you one of the new owners of those islands

[el_bryanto]

3. On the other hand their food is great.

And I've met many chinese-Americans i thought were very likable.

The government is the pits though.

Bryant

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. It is essential that we have a bogeyman. The more scary the better.

" The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." H.L. Mencken

Of course, the Chinese politicians do the same thing with America as the bogeyman.

[OceanEcosystem]

5. I know right? Because all nations are harmless and never pose a threat to each other. n/t.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. How "harmless" is America?

Given our long bloody history of aggression and colonialism.

[OceanEcosystem]

13. Exactly.

Why would it be invalid for another nation to consider the United States to be a bogeyman? After all, as your quote stated, "hobgoblins" are needed "to keep the populace alarmed."

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Erect bogeyman, wave flag, sing National Anthem, start shooting. Works every time.

[redqueen]

6. And small groups in each country get filthy rich,

while the environment in China goes down the shitter.

[white_wolf]

9. I've always secretly thought...

The reason the right in America don't like China is because it offers a glimpse into what they want the U.S. to look like.

[Cleita]

7. Many of us were taught distrust of China along with distrust of Russia

during the cold war. When the Soviet Union fell, we decided to start giving Russia the benefit of the doubt. I think once the present Chinese government is replaced with a more democratic one, we probably will feel the same. For those of us old enough to remember, we once liked China like during WWII. They were our allies against the Japanese and we thought they were wonderful although the government was corrupt and the gap between rich and poor was very wide.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. "We've always been at war with Eastasia"

[Cleita]

15. True enough. We need to put this behind us. n/t

[Ganja Ninja]

11. I don't dislike China.

I dislike the people who are using cheap Chinese labor to try and destroy the wage scale for blue collar workers here in America. I dislike companies like Wal-Mart that force American Companies to shift their production to China as a precondition to them carrying their products in their stores. I dislike vulture capitalists that profit on the destruction of American companies and ship the remains to China and other countries where labor is exploited and wages are laughable.

[mainer]

16. We need to justify our military

and the military needs China as the bogeyman.

Since China only spends 2% (143 billion dollars) of its GDP on defense while the US spends 4.7% (711 billion dollars), I guess we must be winning! The spending race, anyway.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

[mainer]

17. Truthfully, I'm not sure what China has done to deserve our hatred

It hasn't invaded us. It hasn't declared war on us. Its major offense, it seems, is to undercut our wages and produce cheaper goods, causing an imbalance of trade, but how does that make Americans HATE the Chinese, to the point of wanting to declare war on them?

As for American businesses moving to China, isn't that a decision made by American companies, not the Chinese?

Human rights abuses? China is hardly the only problem in the world. Consider the treatment of women in India. Or the Middle East. Or, for god's sake, most of central Africa.

Yet the US seems focused on China as the be-all and end-all of evil empires.