While anti-China feelings in the US are boiling over, the “logic” used to attack China is full of holes and fallacies. If the US needs to maintain its competitive edge over China and win more allies, there need to be better arguments. Let’s take a look at some of the common anti-China talking points and see how they’re self-contradicting and illogical.

China’s GDP numbers are fake! … China is taking over the world!

Which one is it? If China is really faking its numbers, then it’s a paper tiger, which can’t take over the world.

China’s economy will collapse soon! … China is our biggest enemy, rival and competitor!

Again, if the Chinese economy is on the verge of collapsing, then it can’t be a real threat. Just sit back and enjoy a beer.

Chinese buy 4x as many electric cars as the US and produce 10x as much steel as the US, but it’s because they have more people! … China’s GDP cannot be $14 trillion!

If China leads in production of so many goods, it should only be surprising that its GDP is not 2x or 3x bigger than the US!

China makes only crappy products! … OMG! Our trade deficit with China is a big problem!

If China makes only awful products, why do you keep buying from them? Not just one year, but for the past forty years! What are you, an idiot sandwich?

China uses only slave labor! … Chinese stole all our jobs!

Wait. So, your jobs required such low skills that uneducated slaves in China could do them?

Capitalism that’s free from government intervention is the greatest system! … Chinese corporations are winning only because of help from their government!

Is government intervention good or bad? Or maybe there’s such a thing called smart intervention?

We have the greatest system! … China must reform and become just like us!

If China is a rival and if they have an inferior system, why would you want them to change? Keep quiet and let them collapse with their awful system!

Free market is the best solution! … China must buy more products from the US!

In a free market, one person/country cannot force another party to buy more products.

China should open up! … We should decouple from China!

I want to marry her … no, I want to break up with her!

China only steals our IP! … Huawei is a threat to our intelligence and national security!

If everything that China has was stolen from the US … how come there’s no American product to beat Huawei?

Also, if China is only using stolen IP, then we know exactly how Huawei’s software and hardware work. So we should be able to figure out if they’re spying or not. Same logic with the dozens of other Chinese hi-tech firms that have been placed under the entity list — DJI, HikVision, SenseTime, Megvii etc.

Americans also ignore the fact that China now accounts for half of all the newly filed patents. Last year, there were more than 1.5 million new Chinese patents!

China must open up and treat all foreign companies just like Chinese companies! … We will continue to ban Chinese tech companies and tell others around the world to do the same!

No need to explain this double standard.

Conclusion

Looking at the big picture, the US certainly needs meticulous planning to counter China. However, this should entail constructive strategy — for example, how can the US create products that are better than Huawei or offer infrastructure projects better than the Belt and Road Initiative?

Also, how about focusing on education? Look at the 2018 PISA scores for high school students: China ranks #1 in science and #1 in math. The US? #17 in science and #33 in math. Abysmal!

Right now, the only solution in the US seems to involve constant demonizing of China, while comforting ourselves with fake facts. This is not going to work …

Related Blog Posts:

China’s Global Leadership in Charts and Figures

Timeline of China Catching Up