Thread by @catcontentonly

Attributing rise in hate crimes on Trump calling it the "China virus" is insufficient in 2 ways:

1. It's ahistorical--working class Chinese in US have long been associated w disease & pestilence, dating back to late 19th cent

2. It ignores the geopolitical moment we're in 1/

Mass immigration of Chinese workers to US in late 19th cent to build railroads resulted in extremely dense population of SF’s Chinatown & it was considered to be an incubator of infectious illnesses. Chinese ppl were seen to be more likely to carry smallpox and cholera 2/

Chinese immigrants were seen to be more likely to carry certain infectious illnesses, particularly smallpox and cholera. In fact, a smallpox epidemic was the one of the primary reasons used as justification for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. 3/

Chinese have also been associated w bubonic plague: In December 1899, rats from a ship docked in Honolulu spread the plague to that city’s Chinatown. It was quarantined & the Board of Health decided to sanitize by fire, burning Honolulu's Chinatown. 4/
bit.ly/358th2K

In addition to Chinese workers historically being racialized as carriers of disease, we find ourselves in a particular moment which incentivizes blaming China. China is the 2nd largest global economy, set to eclipse the US soon. 5/

The US is the dominant global hegemon rn, a position that they won't give up willingly. National sec is no longer concerned w terrorism but interstate strategic competition. US foreign policy’s primary objective is to the blunt the emergence of a new rival. 6/

Trump admin has repeatedly stated publicly/in policy docs the econ/military ascendence of China is the primary national security concern. In Jan, Sec. of State Mike Pompeo called the CCP the “central threat to our times," that the CCP threatened our own Western dem principles 7/

In March, the Daily Beast obtained a WH cable instructing State Dept officials when speaking to journalists to shift the blame of the pandemic onto China, to focus on China orchestrating a coverup which allowed the pandemic to spread. 8/
bit.ly/3eVupLq

Republicans also released a 57 page memo instructing GOP candidates to address the COVID19 crisis by aggressively attacking China, stressing 3 talking points:

1. China covered it up
2. Dems are “soft on China”
3. Repubs will push for sanctions 9/

politi.co/2yL37Hj

This history of Chinese ppl & disease + this political moment explains the 2 main ways COVID19 has been covered:
1.) orientalist coverage of "wet markets," reviving old stereotypes of Chinese ppl as filthy & backward
2.) undermining CCP response/pol legitimacy at every turn 10/