Donald Trump has a bizarre beef with China of which he seems unable to let go. During the campaign, and now, into his presidency, he has repeatedly angered Beijing by accusing the country of stealing American jobs, slamming its alleged manipulation of its own currency, attacking its trade policies and conversing with the president of Taiwan—something no US leader has done since 1979.
Even though we are mostly frenemies, it’s clear that China is a strategic partner of the United States. Can someone please explain to the bully who has taken up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue why starting a new Cold War with China is a losing proposition?
Moreover, it appears that his anti-China rhetoric is having an impact domestically. There has been a rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans in the last year and a half; most of which have gone virtually unnoticed.
“While hate crimes and incidents have surged to the top of news coverage leading up to and following the November 8th election, attacks against AAPIs have received little attention,” said Stewart Kwoh, President and Executive Director of AAAJ - Los Angeles, in a press release.
Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations released an eye-opening report on 2015 hate crimes revealed that crimes targeting Asian-Americans, with most being anti-Chinese, had tripled from six to 18 in that county alone.
Of course, while we will never know the full reason why there has been a rise in hate crimes, civil rights groups suspect that Trump’s anti-China rhetoric may be part of the reason.
Karin Wang of the AAAJ (Asian Americans Advancing Justice) has a theory.
There have been several instances during which Trump has referred to China as a threat. The group pointed to one, a 2015 announcement, where Trump said that “ISIS, China, Mexico are all beating us.” He continues, asking when the U.S. had last beat China and Japan in trade. And later on, he brings up China’s “exponentially expanding its military power.”
Wang said that the announcement “really reinforces the dangerous foreign enemy image, even though he describes China’s threat as one of trade” ― similar to the anti-Japanese sentiment of the 1970s and 1980s, when the country was portrayed as a threat to the auto industry, she explained the Huffington Post in an email.
It appears that blustering talk which may lead into a potential war with China isn’t good enough for our new president. He may be talking enough smack to create an environment for Asian-Americans to become victims of violence and harassment, too.
