Hemant Adlakha
In a recent commentary, Zongyuan Zoe Liu of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations recalled what might be termed the “good old days” of China-U.S. relations – just over a decade ago in time, but seemingly far removed in sentiment. As Liu wrote:
Not long ago, American and Chinese people mostly liked each other. In 2011, polls showed that the majority in each country viewed the other favorably. That same year, the “Kung Fu Panda” series was a hit at the box office for the second time, offering a rare cultural touchpoint both nations shared. Economically, the United States and China seemed inseparable. The term “Chimerica” captured this dynamic: China produced and saved; the United States consumed and borrowed. The relationship was celebrated as the engine of global growth, helping the world recover from the 2007–08 global financial crisis.
Yet in the years since, the anti-China narrative has become lodged in the U.S. psyche. Today, the amiable era of “Chimerica” has been long forgotten, thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a relentless campaign targeting China with tariff and tech restrictions. The last eight years of Washington-Beijing hostilities have turned the U.S. public consensus against China, and in dramatic fashion. As Liu noted, a 2024 Pew survey showed that 81 percent of Americans viewed China unfavorably, with 42 percent perceiving it as an “enemy” of the United States. Today China is more likely to be depicted as hostile and unfriendly in U.S. popular culture – as seen in the political tv drama thriller series “The Diplomat” (2023) – than be celebrated for its pandas and kung fu.
Just before the U.S. presidential election in November 2020, there was much discussion in China over whether a victory by the Republicans’ Donald Trump or the Democrats’ Kamala Harris would be less disadvantageous for China’s economic and national interests. In spite of the setbacks tariff and tech wars brought to China’s economic and technological growth, it was believed by some that the Trump 1.0 presidency had provided useful opportunities for China’s top leader Xi Jinping and the country’s military establishment. And the shift from Trump to President Joe Biden in 2021 didn’t exactly change the needle on Trump’s China policy.
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