In another thread AC Dropout said:

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However, this type of news never gets media attention. I don't see these headlines in Chinese newspapers. No one is going around digging dirt like the US counterparts. If it wasn't for 9/11, I'm pretty sure the past few years our government and media would be digging dirt on China to drive our population into some sort hysteria that China was going to take over the world, as it was doing prior to 9/11.

Is what AC says true? Does the U.S. media have an anti-China bias?

I don't see it. With the exception of the SARS thing, the US spy plane thing, the jailed dissidents thing, the Tienanmen Square thing, the meddling in Vietnam thing, the meddling in Korea thing, and the fact that they are the last major Communist power left in the world, I think the US media has been wholly supportive of China!

Can China take over the world? Depends on the political savvy of their leaders in the next century. They seem to have controlled their population issue - and as a result, their food supply issue.

But why are we complaining about bad press for China? Is ethnic loyalty stronger than national loyalty? I'm pretty sure we all agree that the life of the average American is better than the life of the average Chinese.

Well, I think attitudes towards China will reflect the attitudes towards AA in general, and vice versa. Honestly BB, if your coworkers started bashing China or whatever for no "reason", even to the point of being irrational, wouldn't you start wondering what they thought of you? Especially considering how important symbolism is out here, now that we're all "politically correct." Unfortunately Asians and Asia are one and the same, to people here in the west. And when a country -- like China, that's keeping to itself and minding its own business -- is vilified, then it sure as hell makes me wonder about the acceptance of AA's in this society.

Asians may have it better in the west, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't help out whenever possible. After all, we are judged somewhat by the nations we "come from," so what's good for Asia is good for us here (in the long run).

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Is ethnic loyalty stronger than national loyalty?

Ethnic loyalty is apparently stronger than the Constitution. But we all know who started that! LOL.

Chuchu, It's somewhat true, maybe exaggerated sometimes. But it will ALWAYS be there, dormant or otherwise. If the bias isn't there now, it will be there tomorrow, along with the consequences. That we can count on. Like a frozen Scapegoat-TV-Dinner.

kimchi devil - I do agree with you. Perhaps I'm a little spoiled by living in So.Cal, where many Asians live and people here are used to interacting with them on an individual level. IN such a case, it's much harder to vilify people in groups when you know them on an individual basis.

Would I be afraid if we ever went to war with China? Absolutely. But not because of CHina - I'd be afraid of those idiots with the Confederate Flag in the back window of their pickups. They can't seem to understand that visiting violence on people here will do absolutely nothing except devastate a person's life and that of their family's

Chuchu,

"Well, compared to England, Canada, and the U.S., China still has a way to go in domestic human rights, and SARS is rather current and it does deal with human rights, e.g. lying to one's populace. Anyway, I wish China and all its inhabitants all the best in the future. "

And how do you draw these conclusions on human rights. As if USA and UK did not lie to their respective nations to start a war half a world away. England invented the modern colonialism. USA invented cold war intervention with other nations. China trying to bring her populace out of the destruction England and USA brought to it over a hundread years ago and it becomes a human right violator.

For every human rights violation you can name in China, I can easily name a similar one that occured here in the States. And USA history is not even my strong point.

Even China decided to defend itself recently last year by starting to publish the human right violations the USA has been racking up.

It's like the Republican tactic of character assignation has been brought to the global stage now.

AC,

Let's talk about the present. There's no need to keep mentioning Native Americans, Tibetans, etc, we'd be here all day then. Anyway, I see it like this: U.S. U.K.'s human rights are represented by two grains of sand each. China has one grain.

China

USA

U.K.

By the way, "character assassination" has only been occurring now for several thousand years.

Anyway, let's get back to the original topic of this thread. I would like to hear what others think.

Chuchu,

Sorry that I have to jump in with comments that are still not directly related to the topic, but I just have to get these points off my chest after reading the politically charged posts in this site.

From what I read so far, I got a distinct impression that unfortunately our views and beliefs are still very much influenced by the regional rivalries and events back in Asia. I suppose this is understandable given the fact that most AAs have not been in the U.S. long enough to sever their ties with their respective motherlands in Asia as much as other ethnic groups, as well as the fact that Asians are the smallest minority made up of diverse nationalities and cultures from the largest continent on Earth. I understand that some AAs, in fact, earn their livelihoods by directly doing businesses with or working for their respective motherlands, so, therefore, they naturally have more interests and stakes in the affairs concerning these countries. As BasinBictory pointed out, I, too, am aware of the negative impression of an AA that others may have based on the status of that AA's motherland, though it may not be rational to do so. As the most recent immigrants in any substantial number, I guess it behooves us to wish that our respective motherlands do as best as they could. However, as a still incohesive and marginalized minority it also behooves us to think of ourselves as Asian-Americans or, at least, Asian Pacific-Americans (for those of us who are) who should try to put aside the Old World differences and strive to cooperate more towards the common goal of empowering all of us here - as long as we plan to stay here. I don't follow the events in Asia as closely as the others here, but I do know that things there are complicated enough based on geopolitics and economics. I sincerely hope for the Asians in Asia that any catastrophic event could be avoided, e.g. another Korean War, that could undermine the stability of the entire region or any aggressive expansion by any Asian nation as well. I would be willing to bet that most of us still have close relatives in Asia - some in more vulnerable places - none of whom we like to see harmed by such undesirable events. However, as Americans from the common cultures and histories with common struggles and goals, will we always let the conflicts in Asia drive wedges among us?

My impression of the media bias is a simple one. The United States simply has a need for a 'Holy War.' The simple truth is an enemy is good for politics. Clinton had to deal with Milosevic (remember him?) and had a small 'Wag-the-dog' incident with Saddam. Before that, it was George Bush, Sr. and Saddam, Part 1. The list goes on. When Dubbya took office, they certainly seemed to be leaning toward Communist China as the next great villian. We all know about the spy plane incident. How about Dubbly's slipup when he said that the United State would defend Taiwan against any invasion from China? Does anyone remember the plane with the bugs and spy devices hidden on it that China ordered from Boeing to be used as the equivalent of Air Force One for China's President? I can't remember what else happened, but my AA friends and I were discussing this topic and it was collectively assumed our lives would get much more difficult in the coming years if that trend continued (someone here mentioned rednecks with Conferate flags decorating their pickups). Well, 9-11 happened and guess what? Instead of having to find a villian, one just popped up in the person of Osama Bin Laden (initially anyway). We'll have to see what happens next. At some point, someone will probably point to China again when the need for the next great villain arises.

Outofeast,

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However, as a still incohesive and marginalized minority it also behooves us to think of ourselves as Asian-Americans or, at least, Asian Pacific-Americans (for those of us who are) who should try to put aside the Old World differences and strive to cooperate more towards the common goal of empowering all of us here

Setting aside Old World differences is one thing (that we should do), but letting go of the Old World altogether is another. I think it is important for the Old World to continue to succeed in order to advance the status of AA's here in America. Oddly enough, I think AA's are where we are today because Asia has done reasonable well in this world. The United States is very sensitive to world opinion of it, and I think that has just as much of an influence (at times) as political forces from within. I don't think any reparations would have been paid to JA's who were interned during WWII had Japan itself not been successful. And I certainly don't think the civil rights movement would've been successful had global communism not existed with the world community watching in anticipation. I wish Americans were more genuine at times, but all to often they just play to the camera, and do things to improve their image. Sad but true.

So whether you're the selfish conservative type or the think-of-the-greater-good liberal type, I think it's in the best interest of all AA's in America for Asia to be well off. Most of us here just don't realize how cool it is to have some of our homelands holding some power in this world, and how it effects us here in the states. Would we be better off as another minority with no-where else to turn but to white America? All they have are slightly greater numbers to vote with to choose their favorate WASP candidates. But we have entires nations to back AA's, and I think this clout has largely gone untapped.

And another thing, why is it that America is seen as the great 'open' multiculturalist society when just south of the border, well, Peru to be exact, they've already elected a ethnic Japanese as president. Which BTW is definitely one of the coolest things I've seen. I wonder why this is so underrated? Hmmmm.

Kimchi,

I don't follow you on how successful Asian countries help. Did Japan put pressure on the U.S. to make amends for internment? I hear other people say that when Asian countries do well, people are afraid that white Americans will become jealous and attack them, e.g. Vicent Chen. I don't know.


I think that Alberto Fujimori fled to Japan because he might have been illeagaly elected, i.e. he wasn't a natural Peruvian, but rather a Japanese living in Peru. I don't know though.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4094354,00.html

I think a lot of the anti-China media bias is due to the fact that some people in the U.S. are afraid that China is getting too strong (economically & politically) too fast. They don't want to see China surpass the U.S. & they know this is possible because China's greatest resource is her people (over population is a problem too) who are highly industrious, intelligent & always strive to improve - & also because China has been the most advanced & wealthiest nation many times in the history of mankind. China was much more advanced then the West until about 150 years ago when she started to fall behind due to chaos,foreign invasions, bad government decisions, natural disasters. The West borrowed a lot of Chinese inventions throughout history. I read that practically 1/2 the inventions we use in the World today were invented in China - even some things that people thought were invented by Westerners were actually invented in China long before.

Kimchee Devil:

I agree with you that many times how Asian Americans are treated are a result of how successful their ancestral Asian homeland is doing. Some times they are treated positively & some times negatively if some people feel that the success of that Asian country is a threat. The U.S. help build Japan's economy & promised her unlimited access to the U.S. market in exchange for Japan's cooperation as a strategic partner during the Cold War & to allow the U.S. military to be stationed there.

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Most of us here just don't realize how cool it is to have some of our homelands holding some power in this world, and how it effects us here in the states.

kimchi, enlightened lady stole some of my thunder, but basically I would tend to disagree with you on this point. I think that the majority of Americans would view someone from a country that was wealthy and powerful, but living in the US, with a certain amount of suspicion. That is how German-Americans were treated during WW1. That is the way Japanese-Americans were treated in the 30's and 40's when Japan increasingly showed herself to be the equal in terms of industrial and military power of most European powers. Should China once again rise as a great nation, Chinese-Americans, and by virtue of ethnic similarity, most Asian-Americans will feel the brunt of white America's suspicion.

Yeah, but being lumped together with a winning group is infinitely more desirable than being cast into a loser's group.

If and when China rises into a superpower, and should someone mistaken me for being a part of that...and (gasp) starts to feel a burgeoning jealousy...hmmmm, I'm not gonna have a cow.

MLK,

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I'm not gonna have a cow.

Don't know what you meant by this. Is this some West Coast valleygirl expression?

Chuchu, BasinBictory,

I'd say EnlightenedLady and MLK are right on this one. You guys are thinking primarily of the short-term negative consequences... the bitter pill, and the Vincent Chens. I'm talking about the long term consequences that are by far positive overall, respect... Which is worth its weight in gold and then some. Honestly, do you folks think that anything short of prosperity in Asia will earn you respect here, think about who you're dealing with. I still remember cringing back in the day when the Japanese seemed like they were just buying up everything in America, not because I disliked the Japanese, but because I didn't know how it might effect me, even though I wasn't particularly race conscious at the time. Quite a bit of uncertainty it seemed. But as history has shown... Everyone got used to it. In fact, I kinda think the Japanese still might have some residual issues considering all the execs stateside are Caucasian. It's about time they get over it too, and stop kissing up to these...these...these employees. In other ways it did seem to open alot of doors for Asians here, even though I'm not much of a pokemon fan. And resistance is to be expected as usual.

But I suppose if things are going all right for Asians in a certain areas, like Hawaii and California, how it could seem negative overall instead. This kinda brings up an interesting observation, are Asians, in general, too damn anxious about short-term losses and suffering, that they are completely blinded to the long-term gains? Hmmm. In fact a few other things come to mind, but that's another topic entirely.

Outofeast, seeing as how the act of giving birth to a cow would be quite painful and excruciating. It would make sense to conclude it meant don't agonized over it.

And I always thought that the term "I'm not gonna have a cow." meant that the person was a vegetarian. No wonder that girl got mad on that date back in college when I ordered a steak for myself and a salad for her....It all makes sense now.