US-China Political Rhetoric: Peering Behind the Curtain

2009-11-25

One of my favorite topics is US-China relations, and specifically the rhetoric (mostly from the government, but also from the media) surrounding and influencing the relationship.

Not only is this a fun topic in general, but public perception of China by foreigners has a direct impact on my foreign investment legal practice. In that sense, I'm not completely wasting my time on this stuff (just mostly).

Given my practical limitations, I usually can only comment on news articles, other blogs, and speeches and documents put out by government folks. But what happens to all the China bashing rhetoric as it spills out into the public? What do people think when they hear all the scary stories? And how does that public reaction feed back on the reactionary rhetoric coming from D.C. (or Beijing, as the case may be)?

One tiny clue from, believe it or not, a Letter to the Editor to a U.S. newspaper. Through a bizarre series of events, this letter, written by some guy in Virginia, found its way to my Inbox. It's short, to the point, and tells me a lot about how some Americans perceive China these days, given the news coverage of Obama's visit this month:

Will someone please explain how I owe money to China? I never borrowed a dime from China, and all I hear is the United States owes millions to China. Who borrowed it, where is it and who is going to pay it back? Not me!

OK, let's first acknowledge the humor here. Obviously this guy is either writing this to make a point (and is not serious), or simply doesn't understand how much money is involved, what assets have been purchased, by whom, from whom, and the terms of that debt.

Nevertheless, when all you read about, or watch on tv, tells you that "the U.S." owes "money" to "China," which is the level of specificity of most news accounts, I wouldn't be surprised if many people actually would like answers to these questions. And remember, these folks would represent the tiny minority of uninformed people that are actually informed enough to wonder about this issue to begin with! Everyone else is blissfully ignorant of such things.

Remember that people that write letters to the editor are also more likely to do things like write letters or call their government representatives, who will actually take this stuff seriously. Moreover, if those government representatives are also misinformed on this issue (I can think of several in the U.S. House of Representatives, for example), then you have a self-reinforcing China bashing relationship between the public and the U.S. government. Be afraid, be very afraid. Next year is an election year!

By the way, I hope that China doesn't invoice me for some of that money that the US owes. I already pay a lot of income tax to Beijing; hopefully that will be sufficient.

Tags: U.S.-China Relations