Yellow Peril Redux?

In the late 19th century, the term "yellow peril" was coined as a wave of Chinese international migration fanned the flames of Western xenophobia. At a time when the cutting edge "science of race" put forth the notion that white, yellow, red and black-skinned humans occupied separate rungs in the hierarchy of homo sapiens, Chinese migrants in the West were regarded not only as biologically inferior to whites, but also as a force so threatening that it might even be capable of destroying all of Christendom and the whole of Western civilization. (Throughout the 20th century, the term was recycled several times, most notably as a result of Japan's military conflicts with Russia and later the Allied Forces during WWII.)

From our current historical vantage point, the fervor behind these racist sentiments seems hysterical and melodramatic. Yet at least one Western media outlet is questioning whether today's relentlessly critical reporting on China (related to T*bet, Darfur, the Olympics, the environment, human rights, toxic exports-- you name it) might not constitute a sort of yellow peril redux. In Spiked Online's "Beijing 2008: Challenging China Bashing" section, several writers make the point that Western media tend to portray China as the West's eternal (evil) Other. Tim Black writes, "Everything related to the [Olympic] games... has now become an opportunity for moral grandstanding, an opportunity to portray China as everything we in the West are not." That is, lacking religious freedom, lacking proper environmental regulations, lacking human rights and so forth. (For a more extended analysis of this tendency, check out this excellent post on The China Beat.) One clever headline reads: "The Chinese: From Yellow Peril to Green Peril?"

I think there are other sites that are a bit more thoughtful than CCB (like many of the blogs I've linked in the left sidebar), but its broader point is worthy of consideration. Agree or disagree, I'd recommend a quick visit.

(H/t Danwei.)