By Alex Yu

Flags of US and China. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Territory of American Canada.

Ever since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the United States has found itself at odds with the Chinese government. During the Cold War, China and the US frequently found themselves supporting opposing sides of various conflicts that pitted communist countries against anti-communist countries, including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and crises involving the body of water known as the Taiwan Straight. These conflicts occasionally even saw US and Chinese soldiers engage directly in combat. Tensions eventually cooled down following the US’ official recognition of the People’s Republic of China over the Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) in 1979, following then-US President Richard Nixon’s visits to China in 1972.

However, tensions still remain high in the 21st century, especially now that the Chinese economic miracle has launched the nation into position as a primary economic competitor to the United States. Additionally, the US still supports the sovereignty of Taiwan, an island that China claims as one of its provinces, despite acting as its own country in practice, and the US has historically pledged to defend the island in the event of an invasion from China. In 2018, US President Donald Trump levied tariffs against China, beginning a trade war with the nation, and since his re-election in 2024, he has imposed increasingly strong tariffs on Chinese exports.

Though the relations between the governments of the nations remain tense, one might wonder how ordinary citizens from each of the nations see each other. To answer this question, I interviewed two Chinese nationals to get their opinion on their views on the United States today, the relationship between China and the US, and their hopes for US-China relations moving forward.

Changzhou Senior High School. Photo courtesy of Changzhou Senior High School via facebook.

In October, four students from Changzhou Senior High School in Changzhou, China, came to the US for the International Emerging Leaders Conference (IELC) program hosted by Collegiate. IELC is a weeklong exchange program that allows students from eight different countries to obtain better understanding and a more complete picture of the world. Members participate in groups to solve an assigned environmental issue.

One of the Chinese students I got to know well was Jim Zhang, a 16-year old. From October 4-10, I had many conversations with Zhang, not only about China and the US, but also about our many other shared interests, such as physics, math, and Chinese music. Though I didn’t agree with him on everything we discussed, I am still deeply grateful to be part of such an opportunity to meet not just Zhang, but many other interesting people from around the world.

The 2025 IELC group. Photo courtesy of Collegiate School.

When asked about his thoughts on American citizens, Zhang commented, “They’re fine” and that they are “good people.” He further elaborated on his feelings towards the US government, saying, “Some of the politicians are not making very good decisions and misleading the people of the United States,” and that “some of their policies are not very friendly, but we seek cooperation between the two countries.”

My family immigrated to the United States from China before I was born, so a majority of my relatives still live there. My mother was born in Beijing, and her brother Ding Yuan, who still resides there, expressed similar viewpoints on each of the previous issues. (I conducted the interview with Ding in Chinese, and quotes from him were translated by me.)

On Sino-American relations, he said, “Over the past few years, Sino-US relations have clearly deteriorated to a very worrying level, to the point that some suspect the relationship will inevitably lead to war. As two of the world’s largest economies, this kind of relationship is not in the interests of either China or the US, or even the rest of the world.” Like Zhang, Ding had a dissatisfied attitude towards the American government’s handling of relations and a positive view towards the Chinese response, saying, “the US government (regardless of whether Republicans or Democrats are in power) has consistently adhered to a Cold War-era ‘zero-sum’ mentality, ignoring the tremendous historical achievements of win-win cooperation created by the leaders of China and the US over the past decades.” He added, “I believe the Chinese government has sufficient strength and capability to handle the relevant issues properly.”

Skyline of Beijing, the capital of China. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons user Picrazy2. 

Though the Chinese government thoroughly limits freedom of speech in their nation, and one may be doubtful about the authenticity of their responses, I do believe that both Zhang and Ding were truthful in their positive views of China. The nation has greatly progressed technologically and economically since the tumultuous and volatile era of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960-70s, when the Red Guard—decentralized paramilitary units composed largely of students fanatically devoted to Mao Zedong, the founder of Communist China and its leader at that time—committed indiscriminate murders of Chinese civilians.

I have visited China several times, and even Datong, which is considered a less populous Chinese city, appeared to me as a rather lively place when I visited it. All cities in China are ranked on an unofficial scale from one to four on various factors, including GDP, population, and political significance. Datong is considered a third-tier Chinese city, meaning it is a comparatively poor city.

Zhang’s and Ding’s views are likely largely influenced by Chinese state media, which almost exclusively portrays China in a positive light, censoring events that portray the nation negatively. Zhang and Ding only really had positive things to say about their country, and Zhang characterized China as a “friendly country” that wants to cooperate with all other countries.

US President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a bilateral meeting at the Gimhae International Airport terminal, Thursday, October 30, 2025, in Busan, South Korea. Photo credit: Official White House photo by Daniel Torok.

Since taking office again in 2025, Trump has both raised and lowered tariffs on China a number of times. As of November 10, tariffs were 47% on all Chinese goods, having postponed planned additional tariffs after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30. On Trump’s tariff policies, Zhang noted both that, “They do have an impact on China’s economy, especially to small businesses,” as well as the fact that they are “harmful to America too.” Lastly, Zhang believes that China will not back down in any capacity to the United States as a result of tariffs. Once again, Ding shared similar views to Zhang regarding the effects of tariffs. Though he noted, “In China, price increases aren’t particularly noticeable yet,” he agreed with the notion that “imposing tariffs is a harmful approach that hurts both others and oneself.”

Trump’s tariffs have been a source of contention between economists and politicians in the United States, with some believing that they are achieving their intended purpose in causing strain on targeted nations’ economies, with other sources claiming that tariffs primarily serve to hurt American consumers, who will be forced to deal with inflationary prices. Even the legality of the President’s authority to place tariffs without approval from Congress is up in the air. While Ding mentioned not noticing rising prices in China, he did concede, “Of course, this could also be related to my spending habits.”

Other events have sparked contention between the two nations in recent years as well. One notable incident occurred in 2023, when a Chinese balloon flew across the United States before being shot down by the US near South Carolina. Sources from the Pentagon claim that the balloon had surveillance capabilities, but did not discover any evidence that they were used. Meanwhile, Chinese sources claim that it was only a civilian weather balloon. When asked about the incident, Zhang stated that he believed the Chinese government’s account that the balloon was only meant for meteorological purposes and simply got blown off course. The event mirrors another incident in 1999, when the United States bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Serbia and killed three Chinese citizens as part of an offensive against the former nation of Yugoslavia during a NATO mission. The US government purported that the bombing was an accident, while China asserts that it was deliberate.

One source of contention that has persisted between the US and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since the latter’s founding is the relationship between the US and Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China (ROC). The issue stems back to the Chinese Civil War, when the forces of the Chinese Communist Party defeated the Chinese Nationalist forces in 1949, resulting in the formerly ruling Nationalist Government retreating to the island of Taiwan, which it had held since the island’s handover by Japan in 1945 after the end of the Second World War. While the Republic of China’s stance was historically that it was the sole and legitimate government of all of China, ever since the democratization of Taiwan in the late 1980s, there has been a growing local Taiwanese identity that advocates formal independence from China to establish a “Republic of Taiwan.” This is opposed to the traditional view of Taiwan serving as a small part of a greater Chinese identity, continuing the legacy of the “Republic of China.”

The debate regarding Taiwanese vs. Chinese identity has become a major source of contention within Taiwanese politics in recent decades. The US formerly recognized the legitimacy of the Republic of China until 1979, due to the US’s positive relations with the Nationalist government during World War II and the fight against Imperial Japan, as well as the US’s stance of anti-communism during the Cold War. Nevertheless, the United States has continued to have friendly relations with Taiwan since. Trump’s stance towards defending Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion to reunify the nation has been inconsistent, with him having stated that he will defend the island, despite the fact that he reportedly told Xi that he would not take any action towards Taiwan during their most recent meeting on October 30.

Just like every other issue we discussed, Zhang agreed with the Chinese government’s official stance that Taiwan is an indivisible part of China, and that force will be used to reunify Taiwan with the mainland if Taiwan attempts to declare formal independence in any capacity. He believed that the people of Taiwan wish to be reunited with the mainland, despite knowing that the Democratic Progressive Party, a political party in Taiwan that leans towards formal Taiwanese independence, is currently in power after being elected to office in 2024. He equated the situation to if a state were to secede from the United States, asserting that the US government would certainly use military force to stop this if it were ever to occur, as it did during the American Civil War. Zhang also interestingly was under the impression that the US state of Texas had an interest in seceding from the Union, citing the fact that he had heard of protests advocating for Texas independence. While such movements do exist, many polls have shown the idea of Texas as a separate country to be unpopular.

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region highlighted in red. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user TUBS. 

On the whole, Zhang generally seemed trusting of the Chinese government. He believed that China is a democratic country, due to the existence of local elections that allow anyone to run, the country’s eight minor political parties, and the participation of all locally elected figures in the National People’s Congress every year, where laws are created. When questioned about his belief regarding the allegations of the mistreatment and internment of Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority mostly residing in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, Zhang refused to believe that the Chinese government would ever do such a thing, saying that Xinjiang is actually the safest area in China, and that there would be no reason for any persecution to take place. On the same vein, Zhang stated that he was under the impression that most Tibetans were happy to be a part of China. When asked about the exile of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, Zhang said that the Dalai Lama was too radical and advocated for Tibetan separatism, which only created discontent and chaos.

14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Photo credit: Christopher Michel via Wikimedia Commons.

Zhang acknowledged that information is restricted in China, and that many foreign media, including a majority of websites, are unavailable inside of China. He claimed that the restriction of information is a means of national security. As we were walking past The White House during our tour of Washington, DC, for IELC, I asked him if he knew where Xi Jinping lived, to which he had no response. Anywhere else in the world, a quick Google search would yield that the President of China resides at the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing.

One notable point of divergence in opinion Zhang had from positions that the Chinese government had held was on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which he believed was morally wrong, and that a ceasefire along current frontlines should be established as soon as possible. He expressed this despite China sometimes being seen as a partner to Russia.

Despite tensions remaining unstable even today, both Zhang and Ding expressed hope for positive relations moving forward. Neither seemed to hold any animosity towards ordinary Americans, with Ding even saying that, “Through TikTok, I’ve seen many American friends who, after traveling to China, have dispelled their previous misunderstandings about China and developed a positive understanding of it.” Additionally, in regards to the future, Zhang said, “I am confident that the relationship between the two countries will improve in the future.” Ding stated, “I believe that as time goes on, the US government and people will come to realize that mutual respect, equal cooperation, and win-win outcomes with China are the only correct direction for the development of relations between the two countries.”