Demilade Roberts

Trevor Noah and his guest discussed the serious disconnect in the Western world’s understanding of China. One point was especially absurd: many senior U.S. lawmakers and policymakers had spent their entire careers writing, voting on, and shaping China policy — yet only recently visited China for the first time. They saw modern China with their own eyes and came back stunned, saying they had never imagined China had become like this. This is simply unbelievable. Ordinary Americans posting nonsense about China online is one thing. But officials responsible for China policy being this ignorant about China is another level of imperial arrogance. For decades, America froze China inside old stereotypes: Bruce Lee. Jackie Chan. Kung fu movies. Cheap toys. Fake goods. The world’s low-end factory. Then China changed. And they did not update the file. China built high-speed rail, EVs, ports, drones, shipyards, AI models, supply chains, and the world’s largest industrial system while Western elites were still staring at a VHS tape from the 1990s. But that is still not the real problem. America’s misreading of China does not come from a lack of information. It comes from American exceptionalism. They grew up believing the U.S. is the natural center of democracy, freedom, technology, culture, money, and military power — the country everyone should admire, imitate, and obey. So when China rises without asking for American permission, they do not see reality. They see an error. They keep saying Chinese people live behind a firewall. But Chinese people translate, repost, study, mock, analyze, and consume more foreign information than most Americans ever bother to read about China. Millions of Chinese study abroad. Tens of millions travel overseas. Chinese people use VPNs because they want to see the outside world. Meanwhile, how many Americans have actually lived in China before confidently explaining China to the world? How many can read Chinese platforms? How many follow Chinese debates? How many know what ordinary Chinese people actually argue about? A lot of Chinese people criticize America because they have seen America. A lot of Americans criticize China because they have seen headlines about China. That is the difference. China’s so-called “closed society” produced people curious enough to climb over walls. America’s “open society” produced people too arrogant to look outside their own mirror.