I'm curious if the attitude towards Australia is any different to other Commonwealth countries, considering the proximity and how much immigration there is to Australia.
It's known for being a place that pays a lot for blue-collar labour and also has kangaroos, but otherwise, it's not really got much of a different impression than other generic European or Commonwealth nations. There's, like, a lot of Chinese immigration to every place that speaks English (a required secondary language in Chinese schools). There's shittons of Chinese immigration to Canada too, and they don't have strong feelings about Canada either. It's just "cold Australia". "Instead of spiders, there are moose."
Thanks for writing this post -- I love these FAQs.
A few notes on your answer to the question about Chinese attitudes towards America:
> homeless people who are going to stab you and take your wallet so they can afford another hit of marijuana
Usually these days when this sort of thing happens it's for opioids, and often they're specifically addicted to various drugs laced with fentanyl. The most recent drug epidemic before this one was the crack epidemic in the 80s, and that one was associated with much more drug-related violence than the opioid addiction epidemic. I don't think there's a lot of marijuana-related violence. Do you say 'marijuana' because that's the stereotype in China or for some other reason?
fwiw, a lot of SF is still very beautiful, it's just that property theft and car break-ins are common across a lot of it and in certain parts you can't avoid coming into close proximity with the homeless, many of whom are deranged, schizophrenic, or just high out of their minds. Violent crime exists in SF but is more common across the bridge in Oakland.
> Why is Russia at war with Ukraine? Because America provoked them into it.
This is obviously not the dominant narrative in America, but it's an attitude held by some (most notably John Mearsheimer at U Chicago) and a view I have to admit some sympathy for. Regardless of the nuances of the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, the USA has a long history of encouraging political instability around the world in order to further it's own interests. You don't have to look to far to see this -- just consider what's happened in Libya, Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan over the past two decades -- but the best example may be the story of American involvement in South America in the latter half of the 20th century.
> the America-hate has really ramped up over the past 3 years
The last three years have also seen growing animosity towards China from the USA, though it's perhaps less uniform than in China, because currently in the USA attitudes about other great power countries function as a proxy for national politics.
This might be easiest to demonstrate by example: "China flu" (or sometimes "Kung flu", lol) rhetoric, the recent export restrictions on chip parts, and talk of Thucydides trap. The last is especially prevalent in the defense sector. This would be more visible in mainstream discourse if anti-China rhetoric wasn't taken as a right-wing shibboleth, but it's hard to imagine the CCP not taking notice of the anti-Chinese rhetoric that does happen and adjusting its own presentation of the US to the Chinese people.
I know, I know, I'm just saying that's the impression Chinese people have. I honestly don't think they understand the difference between soft drugs like marijuana, and hard drugs like opioids. They'll use the crime and overdoses and health crisis associated with hard drugs like meth or crack or opioids, and combine it with the legalisation of soft drugs like marijuana, and just treat the two like it's the same thing.
There are tons of beautiful cities in America, but the posts talking about them never get any attention from the algorithm. But if anyone talks about homeless camps, that gets a lot of attention. So people's impression of America in China is basically the worst parts of any city.
I think the China-hate in America is honestly happening for the same reason. Whenever the economy slows down, nationalism and xenophobia ramps up. People feel better if they've got somebody to blame. That, and the CCP is never going to let go of a chance to portray westerners as super racist towards Chinese people, in order to discourage people from emigrating. A lot of Chinese people seem to genuinely think that Chinese immigrants in America are legit, legally-enforced second class citizens. Or that it's impossible to make genuine friends with white people if you're Chinese.
Like I said, the misconceptions are definitely the deepest when it comes to America, and it's 90% because of the skewed picture that CCP propaganda paints.
Love the FAQ thanks !
Thanks!
I'm curious if the attitude towards Australia is any different to other Commonwealth countries, considering the proximity and how much immigration there is to Australia.
It's known for being a place that pays a lot for blue-collar labour and also has kangaroos, but otherwise, it's not really got much of a different impression than other generic European or Commonwealth nations. There's, like, a lot of Chinese immigration to every place that speaks English (a required secondary language in Chinese schools). There's shittons of Chinese immigration to Canada too, and they don't have strong feelings about Canada either. It's just "cold Australia". "Instead of spiders, there are moose."
Thanks for writing this post -- I love these FAQs.
A few notes on your answer to the question about Chinese attitudes towards America:
> homeless people who are going to stab you and take your wallet so they can afford another hit of marijuana
Usually these days when this sort of thing happens it's for opioids, and often they're specifically addicted to various drugs laced with fentanyl. The most recent drug epidemic before this one was the crack epidemic in the 80s, and that one was associated with much more drug-related violence than the opioid addiction epidemic. I don't think there's a lot of marijuana-related violence. Do you say 'marijuana' because that's the stereotype in China or for some other reason?
fwiw, a lot of SF is still very beautiful, it's just that property theft and car break-ins are common across a lot of it and in certain parts you can't avoid coming into close proximity with the homeless, many of whom are deranged, schizophrenic, or just high out of their minds. Violent crime exists in SF but is more common across the bridge in Oakland.
> Why is Russia at war with Ukraine? Because America provoked them into it.
This is obviously not the dominant narrative in America, but it's an attitude held by some (most notably John Mearsheimer at U Chicago) and a view I have to admit some sympathy for. Regardless of the nuances of the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, the USA has a long history of encouraging political instability around the world in order to further it's own interests. You don't have to look to far to see this -- just consider what's happened in Libya, Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan over the past two decades -- but the best example may be the story of American involvement in South America in the latter half of the 20th century.
> the America-hate has really ramped up over the past 3 years
The last three years have also seen growing animosity towards China from the USA, though it's perhaps less uniform than in China, because currently in the USA attitudes about other great power countries function as a proxy for national politics.
This might be easiest to demonstrate by example: "China flu" (or sometimes "Kung flu", lol) rhetoric, the recent export restrictions on chip parts, and talk of Thucydides trap. The last is especially prevalent in the defense sector. This would be more visible in mainstream discourse if anti-China rhetoric wasn't taken as a right-wing shibboleth, but it's hard to imagine the CCP not taking notice of the anti-Chinese rhetoric that does happen and adjusting its own presentation of the US to the Chinese people.
I know, I know, I'm just saying that's the impression Chinese people have. I honestly don't think they understand the difference between soft drugs like marijuana, and hard drugs like opioids. They'll use the crime and overdoses and health crisis associated with hard drugs like meth or crack or opioids, and combine it with the legalisation of soft drugs like marijuana, and just treat the two like it's the same thing.
There are tons of beautiful cities in America, but the posts talking about them never get any attention from the algorithm. But if anyone talks about homeless camps, that gets a lot of attention. So people's impression of America in China is basically the worst parts of any city.
I think the China-hate in America is honestly happening for the same reason. Whenever the economy slows down, nationalism and xenophobia ramps up. People feel better if they've got somebody to blame. That, and the CCP is never going to let go of a chance to portray westerners as super racist towards Chinese people, in order to discourage people from emigrating. A lot of Chinese people seem to genuinely think that Chinese immigrants in America are legit, legally-enforced second class citizens. Or that it's impossible to make genuine friends with white people if you're Chinese.
Like I said, the misconceptions are definitely the deepest when it comes to America, and it's 90% because of the skewed picture that CCP propaganda paints.