The aff's tactic of painting China as a threat becomes self-fulfilling and actively shapes policy that results in war.

This article examines the relationship between privilege understood within a global frame and the discursive construction of the ‘China threat’ in the context of the ‘New Cold War’. Drawing on discourse theory and privilege studies, it investigates how the hegemonic discursive construction of China as a threat interacts with the material conditions of ‘global privilege’ in a diversity of spheres (political, military, economic, technological, cultural and academic). The article contends that the ‘China threat’ narrative is markedly informed by the global privilege, coupled with the fear of losing it, enjoyed by the countries of the ‘Global North’, particularly the United States. These findings have significant implications for our comprehension of how discursive practices impact our understanding of global affairs. They underscore the necessity for self-reflection on privilege, a critical examination of unequal international relations and the importance of empathising with those perceived as the ‘enemy’ to foster peaceful coexistence.

Introduction

This article draws on discourse theory and privilege studies to examine the relationship between privilege understood within a global frame and the discursive construction of the ‘China threat’ in the current geopolitical landscape marked by a hegemonic struggle between China and its allies on one side and the ‘Global North’ on the other. The ensuing tensions, which have led to a growing usage of the term ‘New Cold War’ (e.g., Brossat & Ruiz Casado, 2023; Karaganov, 2018; Zhao, 2019), can accurately be described as a multidimensional confrontation envisaged in terms of ‘emotional attachment, security concerns and economic interests’ (Chen, 2013, p. 247).

Within the literature that explores whether the ascent of China poses a threat, a wide range of viewpoints can be observed (see Gries, 2005; Roy, 1996). At one pole are those perspectives that see the conflict as one between ‘democracy’ and ‘autocracy’, in which a Machiavellian and intrinsically aggressive China threatens to replace the United States first regionally and then globally so that it must be contained for the sake of democratic values (e.g., Doshi, 2021; Jacques, 2012; Schoen & Kaylan, 2014). Conversely, others contend that the perception of China as a menace is rather the consequence of the decline of the centuries-old global dominance of the ‘West’ concurrent with a conspicuous effort to uphold it (see Karaganov, 2018, p. 85; Zhao, 2019, p. 371). Crucially, scholars have emphasised the importance of avoiding hyperbole surrounding the articulation of China as a threat, noting that hyped narratives can become a self-fulfilling prophecy leading to increased antagonism, emboldening hardliners and isolating moderate voices (e.g., Al-Rodhan, 2007; Pan, 2004; Yuan & Fu, 2020).

Hence, even though the ‘China threat’ narrative has received wide attention, the divergent and conflicting perceptions it elicits warrant an examination of how these differences are related to the presence of privilege understood within a global frame. As an initial step, it is crucial to recognise that the narrative that aims to attribute intrinsically malevolent and menacing attributes to China’s ascent has achieved hegemony in the globally privileged ‘Global North’, especially in the United States (see Brossat & Ruiz Casado, 2023). Within that context, this article systematically investigates how this hegemonic discursive construction of China as an ‘enemy’ and a ‘threat’ interacts with the material conditions of ‘global privilege’ in a diversity of spheres (political, military, economic, technological, cultural and academic)