Understanding the Chinese Government's Growing Use of Anti-American Propaganda

Since US-China relations began deteriorating around 2018, Chinese state media has become increasingly critical of the United States. What are the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s main messages to its citizens about America? How should the United States respond, if at all, to Chinese anti-American propaganda? This study addresses these questions by analyzing 1,776 People’s Daily editorials about America published between 2004 and 2023. I find that Chinese state media promotes three distinct anti-American narratives, all of which have been deployed more aggressively since around 2018–2019. First, America is a dangerous hegemon that seeks to harm China and other countries. Second, America has poor moral and social values. And third, America is in decline—increasingly incapable of addressing problems at home or abroad. These narratives serve not just to highlight that America is a threat, as past research suggests, but also that China’s system under the CCP is better. US policymakers should understand the role that anti-Americanism plays in Chinese politics, avoid playing into its narratives when possible, and take measures to counter the CCP’s spread of anti-American messages globally.