Anti-China Rhetoric and Asian American Identity

• In Event: International Politics Are Racial Politics

Abstract

In the post-COVID19 pandemic world, Asian Americans have faced two important political trends: the rise of anti-Asian sentiment and heightened US-China tensions. What are the implications of these trends for Asian American identity and political opinion? This project investigates this question in two parts. First, using a survey experiment of Asian American respondents, we ask whether and how increasing the salience of recent anti-China policies and rhetoric impacts Asian Americans' affinity with different aspects of their identity, such as ethnic identity and Asian American identity. Next, we test whether increasing the salience of Asian Americans' various identity dimensions impacts their foreign policy views toward China. Our results indicate a link between hostile foreign policy stances and Asian American identity. In this way, this paper contributes to scholarship on Asian American identity, immigrant integration, and political cohesion, as well as the burgeoning literature on how race can affect international relations and foreign policy views.

Authors

• Haemin Jee, United States Military Academy, West Point

• Hans Lueders, Stanford University