In recent years, media speculation about a possible conflict between the PRC and the US — and Australia’s role in the war as an ally of the US — has gained significant momentum in both countries. Both Chinese-Australians and Chinese-Americans face the geopolitical reality of living in a country that increasingly sees the PRC as a hostile nation. Possibly for this reason, they share a range of sentiments and views.

Australia and the US are strategic allies. Although the two nations are different in terms of geography, global power status and domestic race politics, both are favourite destinations of outbound migration from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The volume of news and current affairs content related to the PRC in the English-language media in Australia has increased exponentially over the past decade, particularly since 2017. Around the same time, the US-PRC trade war and other bilateral tensions started to become a fixture in the US English-language media landscape. The general tenor of reportage in both nations has been one of significant anxiety about the PRC and the threat it poses on a wide range of issues and areas. A particularly alarming trope in the PRC threat narrative is the possibility of a war with the PRC, potentially over Taiwan. In recent years, media speculation about a possible conflict between the PRC and the US — and Australia’s role in the war as an ally of the US — has gained significant momentum in both countries.

The number of Chinese migrants in many English-speaking Western countries has grown exponentially over the last few decades. As citizens with civic duties and voting rights, people of Chinese descent are fast becoming an important political force in English-speaking multicultural societies such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US, particularly as their communities increase as a proportion of overall population. The prevailing views and sentiments expressed by this segment of the national population have in parallel become a matter of interest to governments and policymakers who are charged with strengthening multicultural social cohesion.

In view of these factors, a comparison of the prevailing sentiments and views of Chinese-Australian and Chinese-American communities can facilitate a deeper understanding of the wider impact of media rhetoric on diasporic Chinese communities – an impact that may have implications for social cohesion in Australia and the US, as well as in other nations.

Against the backdrop of the recent US election and the forthcoming Australian federal election, this analysis is based on a comparative study of recent surveys from the US and Australia. It highlights some key commonalities between Chinese-Australians and Chinese-Americans in their reactions to their domestic English-language news media’s coverage of the PRC, bilateral relations with PRC, as well as to coverage about ethnic Chinese communities.

Key takeaways from the study include:

• Both Chinese-Australians and Chinese-Americans reported a low level of confidence and trust in their domestic English-language news media’s coverage of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and of issues affecting their nation’s bilateral relations with the PRC.
• Both Chinese-Australians and Chinese-Americans reported that the tenor of their domestic English-language media’s reporting on the PRC and their nation’s bilateral relationship with the PRC had impacted on their personal lives and caused tension in their interpersonal relationships and in social settings.
• Both Chinese-Australians and Chinese-Americans reported a significant negative impact on their mental and emotional well-being in response to continuous media reports exclusively focusing on the PRC threat.
• Both Chinese-Australians and Chinese-Americans reported feeling anxious and fearful in response to media speculation about the possibility of a war with China.

The study finds that both Chinese-Australians and Chinese-Americans face the geopolitical reality of living in a country that increasingly sees the PRC as a hostile nation, and possibly for this reason, they share a range of sentiments and views. However, it is worth bearing in mind that there could be a number of other factors that may shape their lived realities in different ways. For instance, the Chinese-Australian population is much larger as a proportion of national percentage than their Chinese-American counterparts. Moreover, voting is compulsory in Australia, as compared with voluntary voting in the US. While Asian-Australians are the largest racial minorities in Australia, in the US, the most significant racial minorities are African-Americans and Latino-Americans. Further, while the US and the PRC are engaged in a global power contest, Australia is a middle power that has to negotiate a difficult position of being caught in tensions between the two powers. Further research is needed to investigate how these differences — as well as the similarities that have been outlined in this analysis — can shape the lived experience of people in both Chinese-Australian and Chinese-American communities.

A full version of the analysis, published by the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI:UTS), can be accessed here.