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Week 3: What Does China Think Of America?
China is a country that is on the rise. Boasting
huge amounts of land and the world’s largest population it has also recently overtook
Japan as the world’s second biggest economy in the world. Many predict that it
will soon topple the United States as the world’s economic leader, and in fact
public opinion surveys show many mistakenly believe it already has, with pewglobal.org
claiming that a median of 41% of people in 21 countries named China as the
world’s leading economic power in comparison to the 37% that named the US. Since
China is going to play a huge role in shaping tomorrow’s world, I have chosen
to explore the views that Chinese people have of America.
I
begin with an article from chinadaily, an English-language newspaper published
in China. Throughout the piece the writer repeatedly criticizes aspects of President
Obama’s recent address at the United Nations General Assembly. He starts by
mocking the speech, sarcastically calling it ‘exceptional’, an allusion to
Obama’s rebuttal of Putin’s criticism of American society. He then proceeds to
question the judgment of Obama’s government in its use of drones and in deciding
to end the campaign in Afghanistan while Al-qaeda is still in existence. He
also criticizes Obama for the continued operation of Guantanamo Bay and for his
failure to come clean about the revelations by former NSA contractor Edward
Snowden in regards to spying activities conducted the government. Finally, he
claims the evidence and argument provided by Obama in response to the alleged
use of chemical weapons in Syria is flawed, and further mocks the U.S. by
referencing the use of an anthrax vial by Colin Powell at the 2003 UN Council
hearings on Iraq. To conclude, he criticizes Obama claim that it is ‘an insult
to human reason’ that other countries do not support his action for military
intervention in Syria, arguing that this statement itself is an insult to the
intelligence of people around the world.
I
believe that the criticisms leveled at Obama and the US government in the
article are valid to a significant degree on factual grounds alone. For
example, Obama promised during his first election campaign to close down
Guantanamo within a year of being elected, but he has essentially renegaded on
that promise, whilst the use of drones has resulted in large numbers of civilian
deaths. Furthermore the government’s inability to clarify its position on the
allegations of spy activities is very worrying, especially after recent events involving
the abuse of journalists at Heathrow. However there are some aspects of the
piece that are unfair, such as the criticism of the U.S. military’s retreat
from Afghanistan or the mockery of Obama, which is frankly uncalled for.
This piece
expresses the views of what we would call a professional or expert, but what
about those of people we may consider to be more normal or civilian. Two other sources which are unfortunately not of Chinese origin, can nonetheless provide valuable
insight into the views of the Chinese people. The general conclusion in regards
to U.S. foreign policy is that when questioned about U.S. influence abroad
their opinions are not positive. In fact, they criticize the U.S. as a bully
for its military intervention in other countries and ask why it feels the need
to try and rule over the world. The actions of the U.S. government were also
questioned on the topic of the debt it owed to China, with people asking why
the U.S. continues to borrow money from China despite many people there living
in poverty, and when they would pay them back. However, there was some praise
for the U.S. system, such as the right to free speech, democracy (though one
asked whether U.S. citizens really believed the country to be democratic) and
for its copyright system. One person also claimed the government “treats it people
so well” and “seldom if ever lies to its people”. The people of the U.S. were
generally praised as nice, friendly and helpful, whilst aspects of life there,
such as technology, charity, economy, jazz and architecture were also held in
high regard. With regards to the standard of living in America, people either
stated their belief that it was very good or questioned it.
Considering the actions
that took place during the Bush era and the continued presence of U.S. military
overseas I am inclined to say that the Chinese opinion on foreign policy is
valid. However, it can also be argued that expressions of opinions in China
need to be treated with great care because of the continued influence of the
state on media reporting within the country. Furthermore, the stated belief
that the government ‘seldom if ever lies to its people’ could not be further
from the truth considering the aforementioned spy allegations. The view that
Americans are generally nice people is valid, though we need to consider
whether those in China who believe this have actually met more than a few
Americans before coming to this conclusion. Likewise the view that the standard
of living in America is good may be valid, but needs to be treated with caution
as it is most likely that Chinese people, judging only from the limited sources
available to them, do not have an extensive knowledge of the country and as
such fail to recognize the struggles of those living in the poorest urban and
rural parts of the U.S.
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