So this may be because Americans think of China as China's political system. When they think "Chinese" they think Xi Jingping.

How many Chinese people think of America and go "Joe Biden"? I'd bet more of them think "Brad Pitt" or something along those lines.

My point is, Americans may see Chinese people as their political system. While the Chinese see Americans as their culture: movies, tv, music etc.

In the past, on Hacker News, I've had to explain to commenters here that the level of anti-China propaganda in the US is magnitudes higher than any anti-American propaganda in China. Most don't believe me because they assume that China must be deploying the same level of anti-American propaganda as the US deploys the opposite.

In 2024, if you go to a coffee shop in China, you'll very often hear American music. If you go to a movie theater in China, you'll very often see viewings for Hollywood movies. If you walk around the street, you'll see many clear American logos like Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Apple, Walmart, Ford, Microsoft, Tesla, etc.

If you walk around the US, you won't see many Chinese brands, if at all. In fact, even if a Chinese company operates in the US, they have to hide the fact that they're a Chinese company. American cafes won't play Chinese music. AMC isn't showing Chinese movies.

Furthermore, in a democracy, in order for politicians to win elections, they have to have a popular opinion. The US media has been non-stop anti-China for a long time now. Therefore, the popular opinion is "China bad". In order for politicians to win an election, they must be "China bad" as well. It's a cycle really. It's almost political suicide for a politician to even have a moderate view on China. It's also hard for any American media to have moderate views on China nowadays.

To me, it's not surprising at all that Chinese people in China do not hate Americans the same way Americans hate the Chinese.

On Hacker News comments, I've been accused of being paid by the CCP more times than I can remember just because I'm not automatically "China bad".

I think its more normal to have a "moderate view on China" than you would assume if you only interact with other people online, or via reading newspapers. Normal Americans don't even see their own government as being their business (with good reason, since democratic inputs are not connected to governmental decision-making), let alone some country on the other side of the world where they'll never go, or likely even meet someone from.

I suspect the modal view on China among Americans is just nothing -- they've never even thought about it. We'll never get a poll that confirms this because asking the question at all clouds the answer.

I think you’re right that on a daily basis, the average American does not think about China.

But I’m more talking about the overall perception, the sentiment. I would not describe it as “nothing”. It’s far more negative in my experience.

yes, there is a widespread awareness that this is all realpolitik. in the western public, everything is a moral struggle between good and evil, where the west is the good guy de facto

to add on to this - far more chinese people visit the west than the other way around. many study english. there is significantly greater understanding of their counterpart's systems in china than in the US or europe. the US has trouble recruiting people who are even literate in mandarin, FFS, to say nothing about familiarity with the culture (even more incredibly, nobody questions reporting or analysis on china produced by these illiterate people!)

It’s a lot easier for the second place player to want to cooperate with the first place than vice versa. The U.S. doesn’t want to let their control subside, and is willing to push back at nations who come too close.