Fear of China is a "caricature straight out of a comic book," says US professor.

247 - US authorities are experiencing a "monster-under-the-bed psychosis" when it comes to the rise of China. This statement comes from American professor Anthony Moretti of Robert Morris University, who accuses Washington of fueling unfounded paranoia against the Asian country. article Published in CGTN, Moretti harshly criticizes what he considers to be an obsessive and hostile narrative promoted by sectors of the US political and media elite, something that, according to him, threatens global stability.

According to Moretti, the most recent example of this rhetoric is the much-touted "China Shock 2.0," an expression used to describe the growth of Chinese exports of cutting-edge products, such as electric vehicles and solar equipment. During hearings in the US Congress in June, officials accused Beijing of "flooding markets" and threatening jobs in the US industrial sector, as well as allegedly harming developing countries with "unfair" practices.

The professor criticizes the imbalance of these accusations, which, according to him, ignore the very deficiencies of the American industrial model. “The discourse one hears is: China destroyed American manufacturing; China floods the markets; China defrauds the rules; the Chinese Communist Party manipulates everything. A caricature that seems more like something out of a comic book, with a character paralyzed by fear in the face of an imaginary ogre,” he ironically remarks.

Moretti also denounces the role of the mainstream US media in sustaining this narrative, accusing it of amplifying warmongering and protectionist rhetoric without questioning it. He points out that the current administration, led by President Donald Trump, has intensified "senseless" tariffs, pressured the European Union to curb trade relations with China, and reinforced strategic actions to limit Chinese influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Citing historian Gerald Horne of the University of Houston, the article argues that the true motivation behind the offensive against China is the perception of declining US global hegemony. Horne points out that, in internal Pentagon simulations of a potential conflict with China, the outcome is invariably favorable to Beijing – fueling Washington's fear of losing its supremacy.

"If the US can convince the world that China is not a benevolent hegemon, perhaps they can maintain their own dominance," the professor assesses.

However, Moretti observes that this rhetoric is losing strength in the Global South. Countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, according to him, have shown greater affinity with the non-interventionist and cooperative approach promoted by Beijing. He recalls that, over decades, the US has intervened in legitimate governments, imposed arbitrary sanctions, and restricted the development of entire nations.

"Given this history, many leaders prefer to distance themselves from the Cold War mentality that still hangs over Washington," he writes.