This interesting and significant PAPER was published by the University of California San Diego’s 21ST CENTURY CHINA CENTER.
We in the United States are proud of our liberal democratic system based on individual freedom. Many of us wish the rest of the world would see the benefits and advantages of such a system. However, we are still a work in progress. Our “perfect union” is still “imperfect”. Some examples are income inequities, inadequate health care and educational systems, deteriorating infrastructure and our failure to adequately handle the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Trump’s rhetoric on the “China virus” and “Kung Flu” has further exacerbated existing Anti-Asian sentiments. More than 9,000 Anti-Asian Incidents have been reported since the pandemic began in 2019.
According to this scholarly paper, “the cross-border flow of people for educational exchange in western democracies is seen as a way to transfer democratic values to non-democratic regions of the world. Chinese students who study in the United States are more predisposed to favor liberal democracy than their peers in China. However, anti-Chinese discrimination significantly reduces their belief that political reform is desirable for China and increases their support for authoritarian rule. These effects of discrimination are most pronounced among students who are more likely to reject Chinese nationalism.”
“Encountering non-racist criticisms of the Chinese government does not increase support for authoritarianism. Our results are not explained by relative evaluations of US and Chinese government handling of COVID-19.”
“These data have shown that discrimination interferes with the transfer of democratic values.”