Apocalyptic visions of Sino-US relations are a road to nowhere

Julian B. Gewirtz says mutual fearmongering has entered mainstream political thought in the US and China, when cooperation is needed to tackle global challenges for the sake of the younger generation

US-China relations

Julian B. Gewirtz

Published: 12:21pm, 4 Jan, 2017

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Forget the daily news stories – an upcoming apocalypse in US-China relations is already on video in both countries.

In the American video, Death by China, a serrated knife plunges into a map of the United States. Blood spurts out of the heartland, splattering across the map and pouring out of the borders. The presidential baritone of actor Martin Sheen warns that an “increasingly destructive trade relationship with a rapidly rising China” is demolishing American economic security. The voice-over condemns the Communist Party for “victimising both American and Chinese citizens”.

In the Chinese video, promoted with the hashtag “Who most wants to overthrow China?”, images of refugees fleeing the Middle East fill the screen. Forbidding violins thrum in the background as a message appears against a dark background: “‘Colour revolutions” have already successfully pushed many countries into the flames of war and division. These devilish claws are also reaching into China!” After further denunciations of the US, the video concludes with martial images and calls for all Chinese to prepare for “a long war” against hostile infiltration.

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Are these screeds the work of fringe extremists? If only. These films express what are now mainstream views among some members of the leadership of the world’s two largest economies.

Death by China is a documentary directed by Peter Navarro, a prominent adviser to US President-elect Donald Trump. He has just been named assistant to the president and director of trade and industrial policy, leading Trump’s newly created White House National Trade Council. The Chinese video, in turn, was publicised by a verified social media account of China’s Ministry of Public Security.

Watch: ‘Death by China’ trailer

Melding violent imagery, paranoia about hostile infiltration, and a sense that terrible things are secretly afoot, these two films offer apocalyptic visions of US-China interconnection. Reflecting a mutual hostility that risks overtaking the relationship in the Trump era, they illustrate how provocative actions by one side play into the most fearsome imaginings of the other.

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The viewpoints of each film have existed for many years but have barged into the mainstream only recently. Trump is mainstreaming radical views that had previously existed only on the fringes of American political life. Some of Navarro’s radical views now seem to be the incoming Trump administration’s views as well. (Trump called the film “right on”.) In September, the Trump campaign issued a white paper co-authored by commerce secretary pick Wilbur Ross and Navarro, with arguments coming directly from Death by China; announcing his appointment last month, Trump called Navarro “a visionary economist”, making clear that he is central to setting the agenda on trade and industry, issues of great importance to the president-elect.

On the Chinese side, members of Xi Jinping’s ( 習近平 ) administration, such as successive education ministers Yuan Guiren ( 袁貴仁 ) and Chen Baosheng (陈宝生), have publicly and angrily denounced “hostile foreign infiltration.” After Navarro’s appointment, China’s state-run media called on the Communist Party leadership to “ discard any illusions and make full preparations for any offensive move by the Trump government.”

Chen Baosheng (right), China’s education minister, meets Hong Kong’s Secretary for Education, Eddie Ng, in Beijing on August 18 last year. Chen has identified schools as the prime targets of hostile forces for infiltration activities. Photo: ISD

Watching these two videos shortly after my 27th birthday, as an American scholar of contemporary China, I felt a particular dread take hold. In the US, we tend to regard Trump’s demonisation of China as fodder for his base, which has seen jobs disappear as companies shifted to lower-cost production in overseas locations, such as China and Mexico. But this demonisation also plays into the hands of high-level voices in China that believe the “devilish claws” of US influence are seeking to rend China apart.

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Equally, the hostile propaganda of films like “Who most wants to overthrow China?” not only stokes Chinese nationalism, but may also seem to confirm the paranoia of Trump and his advisers that “death by China” is a real threat. These are apocalyptic visions that agree with each other, a grim concordance that can only hasten catastrophe.

The US may never be able to have a completely trusting relationship with a China led by the Communist Party. But this does not mean we will have to be adversaries

This worsening of US-China relations is not what my generation wants. Yes, a 2015 Pew survey found just 38 per cent of Americans had a favourable view of China, but when you break up those figures by age, Americans aged 18 to 29 are more than twice as likely as those over 50 to view China favourably.

That’s a dramatic generational divide. My generation in the US includes large numbers with China expertise, good ties with its people, and not given to paranoia and loathing towards China. They include not just policy professionals, but also people in the technology, business, health, environmental, educational and cultural sectors.

Looking at the problems that confront the Sino-US relationship, we can see neither side is wholly culpable or wholly blameless. The US must seek to remedy China’s unfair trade practices and destabilising security provocations, but not in a spirit of demonising China; the US must project strength and protect its interests and values in the Asia-Pacific, but not in the spirit of making an enemy of China. We see Sino-US cooperation helping to address climate change, nuclear proliferation, the spread of lethal diseases and many other global challenges. We don’t want the Trump administration to blow up a relationship with China that’s full of possibility as well as challenges.

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We can see neither side is wholly culpable or wholly blameless

To a certain degree, perhaps it’s understandable that some older Americans are willing to burn the bridges between the US and China.

Everyday Americans have seen jobs vanish, and cheaper consumer goods can’t ease the pain of losing a respectable livelihood. China has deeply disappointed those who hoped that the country’s economic reforms would lead its political system to liberalise. The US may never be able to have a completely trusting relationship with a China led by the Communist Party. But this certainly does not mean we will have to be adversaries.

US President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping walk together at the West Lake State Guest House in Hangzhou on September 3 last year, ahead of a two-day G20 summit. Photo: AP

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Apocalyptic visions fill the minds of some officials in both the US and China. But the American public and elected representatives must not fall prey to these fearsome imaginings, which will make the world even less safe, stable and prosperous. Today’s baby-boomer leaders may be able to escape the full repercussions if Sino-US relations sink into enmity. My generation will have to live with the consequences.

Julian B. Gewirtz is the author of Unlikely Partners: Chinese Reformers, Western Economists, and the Making of Global China

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Sino-US ties must not fall prey to apocalyptic imaginings

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