Really good points here.

Typically, the negative stories adhere to three core ideas, which inform the unspoken guidelines within these press rooms when it comes to reporting on China.

First is the belief that China is a threat to the world and that this belief must be relentlessly reinforced at every available opportunity. How and why China is a threat is never explored; such is the deep-rooted and almost religious nature of the belief. Sound arguments do not matter. The basic tenets of good journalism are ignored when it comes to a China story. There is no need to explain or give evidence of why China is a global threat.

Left ignored is the plentiful evidence that shows China is not a global threat – even if one can point to mistakes and overreach in certain areas. China has not invaded any country in decades, or imposed sanctions that have devasted the lives of millions in poor countries, unlike the West, led by the United States.

Second is that China must be linked to every possible global event that affects the West. This provides an opportunity for the West to bash China while simultaneously burnishing its own credentials as the supposed arbiters of what is right and wrong in international relations. From the pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine war to carbon emissions; from rising sea levels to the scramble for rare earths; from the building of infrastructure in Africa to the production of vaccines – there must be an angle to demonize the country and instill fear in Western nations (and beyond).

Indeed, media outlets are reverting to the “yellow peril” of the late 1800s. There is no subtle and nuanced approach to instilling fear like this. It is full-on and very often blatantly racist – but it is now acceptable for one to be racist about the Chinese in Western media, despite the fact that Black-White relations are very carefully described.

The third part of this phenomenon, which is surprisingly not challenged by liberal readers of mainstream media, is the sentiment that everything must be done – even illegal and unfair methods – to arrest the rise of China. Never mind the rights of hundreds of millions of Chinese to have a better life after a century of poverty and deprivation.

Headline after headline that capture this sentiment have normalized the view that there is a need to curb the rise of China, and that this is a legitimate geopolitical objective. There is no explanation about why or if it is even morally acceptable. It has become a feature of Western commentary on China to say that its rise is a concern and a threat. With this assumption unassailably in place, the West has the right to galvanize – and even bully – its allies and ask the absurd question, “what should be done about China’s rise?” – as if China does not have the right to carve its own place in the new world.>

I crossposted this to lemmy.ml and it got like 10 downvotes right away lol. Westerners cannot fathom the possibility that a another country isn’t as evil as theirs is.

I’ve been reading Losurdo lately, and part of the western project of whitewashing their own legacy, is to accuse others of their own faults, even their own specific faults.

IE the anti-semitism rampant in the west and Germany must be associated also with the USSR and Stalin. Nowdays, the islamophobia and bombing of muslim countries that the west has been doing for decades must be associated with China.

The next step is to dismantle the dominance of Western media.

It’s literally everywhere. I expect it from the mainstream news coverage, but it finds its way into everything.

Forum about board games? Anti-China rhetoric (I saw this one very recently). Cooking blog? Better believe somebody will find a way to snipe at Chinese cuisine in there. Tech stories will definitely be covering the horrors of Chinese chip production.

If I could go just one day without being inundated with anti-chinese lines I would be surprised.