Dissertation

Anti-Asian Racism and American Public Opinion on China

My dissertation examines the role of anti-Asian racism in contemporary U.S.-China relations with a particular focus on American public opinion on China and international trade. Building on theories of American racial hierarchy, I first propose a new scientific measure of anti-Asian sentiments, the Asian American Resentment (AAR) scale. Utilizing public opinion surveys, survey experiments, and text analyses, I first empirically test the relationship between anti-Asian racial resentment and Americans’ views toward China and U.S. China policy. I also examine the central role such racial attitudes play in shaping American public opinion on international trade and economic relations with China. I then shift my focus to the effects of the China trade shock and anti-China political rhetoric on growing anti-Asian sentiments across the United States. My dissertation contributes to advancing scholarly discussions on the increasingly salient yet overlooked racial dimension of foreign policy public opinion and U.S.-China relations.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

“The Chinese Virus?: The Politicization of COVID-19 and the Rise of Anti-Asian Racism in the United States,” Journal of Experimental Political Science. Conditionally Accepted.

Working Papers

“Race in International Relations: Beyond the ‘Norm Against Noticing’,” (with Bianca Freeman and David Lake) Commissioned for Annual Review of Political Science.

“Yellow Peril Revived? Anti-Asian Racial Resentment and American Public Opinion on China.”

“Foreign Policy Revisionism in the Era of COVID-19: Theory and Evidence from Chinese Public Opinion.” (with Joshua Byun and Sichen Li) The 21st-Century China Center Research Paper no. 2021-06

“Oceans Apart? Perceptions of Perceptions and Dangerous Spirals in U.S.-Chinese Public Opinion,” (with Joshua Byun, Sichen Li, and Weiyi Shi)

Projects in Progress

“Anti-Asian Racial Resentment and American Public Opinion on Trade.”