Summary
Nowadays, it is common in many countries around the world to share opposing views on China. Unfortunately, these opinions need to be adequately supported with arguments, and it is likely that most people who follow these beliefs do not understand whether they are valid or not. Overall, the ignorance of many individuals results in the creation of these stereotypes, which are then shared with other people who start blindly believing in them and do not even bother to check the facts.
Non-Chinese Stereotypical Views of China
To begin with, the scale of negative images of China has seen a drastic rise in recent years. In Pew Research Center, Silver et al. (2021) conducted an extensive analysis of how the opinions of citizens from 17 advanced countries changed based on modern stereotypes about China. It is apparent that the views about the country have experienced a downward trend since the outbreak of COVID-19 in China’s territory. As a result, many stereotypes created by non-Chinese individuals have been shared with the public, leading to a decline in worldwide respect for the country in recent years.
As stated, the cause of China’s negative image around the globe is its supposed thoroughly planned-out and unrestrained outbreak of COVID-19, which further led to a severe global pandemic with many deaths and a significant decline in public health. Many people believe that after China covered the first case of infection, it was not for the safety of the people but to worsen the initial pandemic situation. In fact, they are recognized for the purposeful staging and generation of this virus altogether and, naturally, for their benefit. Most importantly, there are multiple ridiculous opinions on how China did benefit from COVID-19, such as freeing the space for younger people after many deaths of the elderly. Furthermore, Silver et al. (2021) concluded that no fewer than 49% and up to 79% of the public from 17 countries surveyed believed that China dealt with the virus outbreak poorly back in 2020. Naturally, many countries then speculated that China was handling the pandemic poorly and that it was on purpose.
Another reason for the deteriorating image of China is the widespread opinion that politicians are becoming Wolf Warriors. This political strategy is recognized as diplomats not being afraid to “pull punches” as a powerful counter-attack to them losing their leadership position on the global scale (Jiang, 2021, p. 33). The public in many countries considers that the increasingly bold diplomats share disinformation to cover the country’s misdeeds (Kurlantzick, 2022). To elaborate, the Chinese political representatives are believed to continue to spread false information about the war in Ukraine, purposefully denying the faults of Russia because of their still ongoing alliance (Kurlantzick, 2022). Not to mention that China attempted to lie about the COVID-19 location of the outbreak to restore its drastically declining image and undermined the US by attacking its response to the pandemic.
Furthermore, it has also been assumed that China is running the Asian version of the Monroe Doctrine in its neighborhood. The country’s confrontational politics in the East and South Seas, including air defense identification zones and other strategic areas, contributed to the rise of rumors about the doctrine (Holmes, 2021). In fact, many researchers conducted extensive investigations of the matter to explore the possibility of the Monroe Doctrine in China based on already widespread assumptions and hypotheses. Naturally, Chinese representatives denied this possibility and rejected the claims about them excluding other regions.
The Gap between Foreign Opinions and the Views of Chinese Residents
Therefore, non-Chinese individuals who spread the aforementioned views do not adequately and thoroughly analyze the arguments and facts that are used to support these claims. As a result, these widespread stereotypes are bound to differ considerably from the opinions of the actual citizens about the country. That is why I have differing opinions on my country, considering that these views are produced chiefly due to the political benefits of many advanced countries around the world.
In fact, I believe that the COVID-19 outbreak could have happened in any other country, but would the world react the same and put all the blame on not only the government but the country’s innocent citizens as well? I would argue that countries across the globe would unite and focus on tackling this substantial issue instead of spreading rumors about the planned generation of the virus. As for the rise of the Wolf Warriors, it is impossible to determine whether the claims about the China-Russia alliance are the reason for the spreading of disinformation because this is not the information for the general public. However, this assumption might be plausible, considering that the country may employ confrontational politics to avert the gaze of other countries from its wrongdoings. In addition, the stereotypical opinions about the Monroe Doctrine are growing old, and the fact that, during the past six years, no one has been able to prove the hypothesis true makes this claim even more absurd. All in all, citizens’ opinions about their countries are likely to differ from foreign rumors that are not supported by verified facts or valid arguments.
The Causes for the Problem and their Potential Solutions
To sum up, the generation of unfavorable views on China stems from its unfavorable relations with many leading countries, including the US and Japan. To be more exact, the focus on the deterioration of the image of China is a result of the need to undermine the country’s leadership position on a global scale. Naturally, this strategy is fruitful as the US is steadily regaining its leading position in the economic sector after a long rivalry with China. In fact, Silver et al. (2021) concluded that the majority of people (59% and more) consider the significance of their country to have economic ties with the US to be higher than with China. However, considering that China does not reject any of the adverse claims about it, it is unlikely that its image will improve anytime soon. On the contrary, it is of utmost importance for China to stand up for itself to counter the Western rhetoric that so quickly spreads across the globe.
In fact, China might regain its leading position in the global market by showing its worth to other countries that will emerge as leaders in the post-pandemic world. Undoubtedly, China excels in trade, investment, and unique ideas, which will be helpful to the economic sectors of many states. Not to mention that China has many resources that can be beneficial to governments worldwide, which means that by telling its story, the country will be able to form fruitful alliances worldwide. That is why by showing China’s worth and showing the country’s true story, it may improve its image through fruitful collaborations in the global market.
References
Holmes, J. (2021). Will China trigger the Monroe Doctrine?. Real Clear Defense. Web.
Jiang, Y. (2021). The rise and fall of the wolf warriors. Crisis, 33–38. Web.
Kurlantzick, J. (2022). China’s poor global image is undermining its strategic goals. The Diplomat. Web.
Silver, L., Devlin, K., & Huang, C. (2021). Large majorities say China does not respect the personal freedoms of its people. Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. Web.