The Alternative is to produce counter narratives that do not treat the US and China as enemies rather, states who would by far benefit more from cooperation and understanding rather than competition for dominance.

In order to resist this combination of escalating “China threat” narratives and anti-Asian racism, we need a counternarrative strategy. Although it is important to critique problematic claims, a counternarrative must do more than simply negate our opponent’s narratives. We do not respond to “Chinese people are a threat” by saying “Chinese people are not a threat” because that response can actually just repeat the association between “Chinese people” and “threat” that we want to disrupt. Instead a counternarrative provides a positive alternative framework for how to understand actors and issues. Such an alternative must confront the underlying narrative structures: the dehumanizing and deindividualizing narratives about people of Chinese descent and others who are perceived to be Chinese, and the US–China binary that portrays the US and China as the embodiment of incompatible principles that are doomed to conflict. Here are some key elements. Counter the notion that all Chinese people form a homogeneous collective by portraying a diversity of identity, opinions, etc. Promote narratives of solidarity showing that people in China and people in the US of Chinese descent experience similar problems to the majority of Americans, and that we can solve our shared problems through shared struggle. There is a need for improved education about the diversity of people of Chinese descent in the US and the overall AAPI community as well as improved education about AAPI history. Counter “China threat” narratives and break down the US–China binary with narratives that show the biggest threats to most people in the US to be those shared across borders, which require international cooperation to create shared solutions. This includes the climate crisis, the pandemic, global poverty and inequality, and a global economy based on the oppression and exploitation of working people everywhere. We need an alternative narrative about the place of the US in the world. So long as American exceptionalism remains the dominant form of American identity, the growing power of China will continue to feed narratives that China is a threat to the US and to American people. Recent polls show that increasing numbers of Americans are rejecting American exceptionalism, but in the absence of a compelling, progressive alternative, it will remain dominant