Shannon Evans

T.A Marta Marciniak

UGC 112 Section B9

March 17, 2010

The article The Roots of Chinese Xenophobia by Dennis Van Vranken Hickey gives

compact reasoning’s as to why there have been Chinese rebellions, and how the Chinese became

so angry with western ideas, and their own government. He also explains how the American

public has skewed views towards the Chinese. The American media makes the Chinese out to be

irritable, irrational, and stubborn. Van Vranken Hickey portrays this by saying “The atrocities

committed by some members of the Chinese population seem incomprehensible and barbaric to

many in the international community.”(116). Many westerners have heard about these rebellions,

but not the real reasons behind them. Xenophobia is the fear, or hatred of foreigners, or things

that are foreign. This article helps to summarize why the Chinese were, and are Xenophobic, so

more people can gain a more thorough understanding.

To idealize the major concept the Chinese people have when it comes to their

government and foreign policy Van Vranken Hickey writes “When provided the opportunity, it

believes, these governments will use their power to bully, dismember, and humiliate China.”

(116). In school Chinese see many of the government’s previous decisions/ attacks as faults and

embarrassments. Many Students become accustomed to being embarrassed by their government,

ultimately decreasing the sense of nationalism, and pride. National Humiliations go by the name
of guo chi. One of the first guo chi’s was the peddling of opium from the British into China.

This caused many Chinese to become addicts, had China pay for the opium wars with Britain,

and sign one of the first of many unfair treaties (Treaty of Nanking).

After Britain was successful at bullying China, it wasn’t long before other countries took

up suit. Many European countries (Belgium, Sweden, France, Norway, Germany, and Russia)

and the United States began making China sign unfair treaties, and rented Chinese land with

proper approval. If China did not begin rebel soon after, it could have become the new Africa, its

only real purpose for imperialistic goods, and trades.

The third point of the article reflects on how China began to rebel against the imperialist

countries that were invading. The first outcry was The Boxer Rebellion in 1900. They were

angry at both the foreigners, and the Chinese Government for allowing the imperialists to invade.

Although they were defeated they put up enough fight to gain attention. Finally people would

start to realize things were not right in China. Nationalism grew after the Qing dynasty ended.

The new Republic of China helped solidify China’s existence as a country, and not just a trading

post. The era of guo chi truly came to an end when China civil war between the KMT and CCP

came to an end. The Chinese Communist Party was victorious, and finally China felt more unity,

and Nationalism. Under the rule of Mao Zedong, China took back its territory and expelled the

imperialists. Although China overcame the state of guo chi, feelings of Xenophobia still linger,

and continue to effect the outside world’s relationship with China. There will need to be an all

around effort, in order to keep peace in order in Chinese diplomacy.

I thought this article was interesting because I, like many Americans never understood

the reasons why the Chinese were so hesitant to like foreigners. This article was relevant for a
very long period of time. I even showed it to my Chinese roommate to get her opinion, and she

told me that many Chinese still feel worried, and have a hard time trusting foreigners. She told

me the Chinese are still trying to progress in that area, and one thing that helps is that other

countries (U.S, Britain, Canada, and other European countries) have been more open to Chinese

immigrants. Slowly we are opening up healthy lines of communication, and maybe someday

xenophobia, and guo chi will be things of the past. Even though I can’t fully relate to the

Chinese, I understand the concept of having to fight for rights in your own country. I sympathize

with their struggles, and hope that in the future, international matters can be conducted more

peacefully, fairly, and honestly.

Within the last few decades China has gone through some rough patches internally, and

externally. While being taken advantage of by other countries, Civilians out cried against their

own weak, and corrupt government. This had Chinese begin to feel threatened by imperialistic

countries, and shamed by their own. Through rebellions, battles, and wars China slowly began to

regain an identity, and the Chinese felt a sense of nationalism by starting new with the CCP.

Although things aren’t perfect, hopefully other countries will continue to respect China’s

policies, peaceful diplomacy can continue to prosper.

Citation: Hickey, Dennis Van Vranken. “The Roots of Chinese Xenophobia.” The World & I ,

(July 2002).