Moser: A Fearful Asymmetry: Covid-19 ...

Special Issue: Pandemic Asia. 2020 July.
The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 18 | Issue 14 | Number 5 | Article ID 5422 | Jul 11, 2020
Mit freundlicher Erlaubnis von Japan Focus.


A Fearful Asymmetry:
Covid-19 and America’s InformationDeficit with China

David Moser

Abstract:
There is a longstanding and fundamental asymmetry in level of mutual understanding between the US and China. Chinese citizens are avid consumers of American media and cultural products, whereas most Americans are woefully unfamiliar with even the basics of Chinese history and culture. This asymmetry has resulted in a situation where the US is in danger of misinterpreting or misunderstanding Chinese motivations in bilateral relations, particularly in times of crisis. This paper recounts how the Covid-19 epidemic of 2020 exacerbated existing tensions between the US and China, and how these escalations in statetostate conflict were in large part due to America’s information deficit with the PRC.

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