So here's the thing about Tom Cotton's comments. First, to state the obvious it's a dog whistle, which casts Chinese as conniving thieves using a tired racist trope that goes back to the days of the 'Yellow Peril' in the 19th century. 1/
And those dog whistles are dangerous because as much as people will try to say, "We're criticizing China, the CCP, etc. not Asian Americans," I'm here to tell you that the people of our country have a hard time distinguishing the two. It's a really slippery slope. 2/
A Chinese-American woman in Brooklyn had bleach thrown on her while she was taking out the trash. Friends of mine had slurs shouted at them in Chelsea in Manhattan yesterday. Asian-owned stores in San Jose, CA had every window smashed out. 3/
Lots of people in NYC have debated over the last few months whether they should leave the City & ride out the COVID crisis in some place where the outbreak seems less severe. Asian Americans also have had those discussions but also had to ask whether they will be attacked. 4/
And that's painful because this is our country. Sure, most of us have heard slurs from time to time over the years. But now the danger seems to be random physical violence, in some cases, as at a Texas Sam's Club, directed at children. 5/
But I also will say that Cotton's comments are part parcel of a strange uncoupling, them vs. us strategy that the American political class (especially on the right but also on the left) seems determined to pursue. 6/
And that seems equally dangerous. And as I said, strange because the last two decades and especially the last decade have brought the US and China closer on many levels than ever before, as China has become more connected, more cosmopolitan, and more outwardly focused. 7/
When I was in Asia last fall, the sentiment was almost universally dismay at the uncoupling and how far it had been allowed to go. To be sure, just as in any troubled marriage, the fault rarely is on one side & it isn't here either. China has pushed buttons as well. 8/
But the sense of many people - and I am inclined to agree - is that the American political class (especially Rs but also Ds) still overwhelmingly look at China through overly simplistic frames. 9/
Either China gets cast as an authoritarian variant of the Soviet Union to slot into a Cold War narrative or as a poor backwards Asian country, which it really isn't any more. The reality is that it is a complex country of 1.4 billion people that we as Americans barely know. 10/
America and the world are right to react to things like the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang or heavy handedness in Hong Kong. But for many in the American political class, those issues often seem more like a proxy or pretext. 11/
The reaction of the American political class on those issues often seems to have less to do with the issues themselves than with angst that China is more confident economically and less willing to play a role as a satellite of the US in the way that South Korea or Japan do. 12/
But that was always going to be the case. South Korea has a population of 52 million. Japan has a population of 100 million. China has 1.4 billion people and the world's second largest economy. Like it or not, we have to find a way to coexist. 13/
If the COVID crisis has proven anything, it's that it's in our best interest to do so. Unfortunately, even from the Biden campaign, the rhetoric is stuck in 1945 - a version of the US will command the world. The Trump camp is even worse. 14/
The US and China right now are akin to a couple stuck in quarantine together. They may not like each other especially at the moment. They may get on each other's nerves. But they are joined at the hip - and in the case of the US & China will be for decades to come. 15/
So I guess my final bit of advice to Tom Cotton is that it would be great for Chinese students to learn about the Federalist Papers. But it also would be great for Americans to start to get to know China, to read Lu Xun (魯迅) or Li Bai (李白). 16/
Many years ago, I went to hear Salman Rushdie, who said, "You have to understand, you can't grow up anywhere in the world and not be aware every day of America. It impacts your life every day." Well, for us that's increasingly going to be China. 17/
And we can resent it (as Tom Cotton seems to do) or we can start to figure out how we coexist even if we aren't the best of friends. 18/
