The Reasons Why American Politicians Fear China

Living in the United States, one often sees media reports about the issue of the “China threat,” in regard to China’s textile exports and oil imports. Seeing these reports so often makes me wonder: What is it about China that scares American politicians so much?

I recently went back to China; after seeing and hearing the things going on there, I am beginning to understand why. In Guangzhou, I made my way to an electronics store because I needed a small DVD player. There was one that particularly attracted my attention; you could watch TV on it, use it to go on a computer, download MP3s and even connect to a GPS system for your car. With this many functions, it only sold for 2000 yuan. Because of standards and warranty issues, I decided to wait and buy one in the United States since I figured that the United States would have the same player for about the same price.

Thinking over recent years, the proportion of U.S. imports of electrical appliances — especially refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, digital cameras, computers, etc. — that are a product of mainland China is increasingly high. Not only that, the quality is just getting better and better, and the price is getting lower and lower. But thinking about the discussion of imports of goods due to mainland restrictions in the politics of the United States, I suddenly understand that the United States is in fact not afraid of Chinese products, but afraid of the ferocious momentum of development in this continent.

On our recent trip to Beijing, I stayed in an aunt’s home. Because she was too busy with work, she basically had no time to go to the grocery store and instead would just call a local market, telling them things like, “I need eight eggs” or “We don’t have any more filtered water at home, I want a jug of water,” and would get them delivered to her home. There was no need to tip and there was no extra charge. It was the same in Guangzhou. When there wasn’t any time to go out to eat, making a phone call to a restaurant for an order was the same price as eating in at the same restaurant.

These kinds of services in China are very common but in the United States, it is considered a luxury; there is not only a delivery fee, but also an additional tip, adding up to a total that may be half the price of the goods bought. Even worse, many shops and supermarkets in the United States do not even provide home delivery because the fee is so high and many people cannot afford it.

I’d like to think that the United States is not the only such country in the DVD player example. In the China that has become famous for being the “world’s factory,” not only is quality improving by leaps and bounds in the production process, the grade of products is also improving. When I first came to the United States 10 years ago, eating utensils made in China could, at best, only be sold as goods of average quality. Now, there are many name brand utensils sold in stores; the price is even lower than they were back then.

Who knew that returning to the United States, after circling the major electronic stores and looking through all the different types of machines, including American brands manufactured in China, there would not be a single DVD player that was multifunctional like the one I saw in China. This made me wonder: If one of those products was sold in the United States at a price slightly lower than other similar ones here, wouldn’t these mainland Chinese imports completely dominate the market here?

When I went back to China this time, I definitely saw a great improvement in terms of the service I received. The waiter service in restaurants was basically on par with that of other countries; the salespeople in large department stores were very knowledgeable in their service and goods. In Beijing and Guangzhou, one can book and make travel plans online, have someone deliver the tickets to your door and even buy these tickets at a local store near one’s home. It’s very convenient and prior to going to major tourist attractions, it is extremely easy to find tour guides. Looking for a place to eat? There are hotels everywhere. Sit down with a waiter and in a short while hot food will be on the table.

In the United States, besides joining a tour group, if you want to go out and travel, everything can be done online, from booking travel tickets to car rentals to looking up maps for travel routes. Although it’s very convenient, it’s a luxury to be able to indulge in the same kind of intimacy and company found in China and finding a tour guide at points of interests is incredibly difficult; one can only look at maps in order to find attractions and understand the history behind them. It is basically impossible to find attractions that are personally interesting unless one does extensive research beforehand.

As for eating, restaurants in major tourist areas are not only expensive, but almost always overcrowded; at dinnertime, it can be difficult to even find a seat in the restaurant to sit down and eat. Unless one wants to eat cheap junk food, one better expect to patiently wait in line for a table. If this seems unbelievable, one only has to look to the restaurant inside Disneyland in Los Angeles during peak dinnertime. Half an hour to wait for a table is considered lucky but at times, it would not be surprising to have to wait an hour to eat something.

In all fairness, the personnel service in the United States is not of low quality but because wages are high, many large companies cannot hire more people to provide the same kinds of exemplary service. Many services have been handed over to machines or the Internet to complete, but there are things that sometimes a machine cannot even do, like greet customers.

The sad thing is, according to statistics, 70 percent of Americans still travel only within the United States and 80 percent of the newspapers are about U.S. news, perpetuating this notion in the United States that although its system is not perfect, it is the best in the world. It is not indifferent or ignorant to changes in the world, but just lacking in understanding. However, one cannot help but wonder what a clearer American understanding of the Chinese mainland would do to change the hearts of Americans. I think that at least a few of them will feel scared.