ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. By analyzing the parallels between past and present anti-China rhetoric, the book illustrates the continued power and resonance of the memory frames of China as the yellow peril and red menace. In turn, it offers suggestions for how United States (US) political leaders and journalists can cultivate more nuanced portrayals of the nations' relationship. Memory frames of China as the yellow peril and red menace endure in US public discourse. Yellow peril tropes of China as a moral, political, economic, and military threat continue to be infused with fear of the red menace to construct China as an ominous red peril. The book examines news coverage of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics by analyzing New York Times and Washington Post articles, as well as NBC's televised news coverage.