Is China safe for Americans?
China is absolutely safe for Americans and for tourists of any nationality.
However, if you ask the State Department or politicians, you’d hear that China is a dangerous country where you must exercise a high degree of caution due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws. The mainstream news media pretty much echo what the State Department politicians have to say on this issue.
Americans who value independent thinking should dig deeper to better understand what’s really going on.
China is safe for American tourists, as it has always been throughout the past 40 years no matter what you hear from politicians and news outlets. “Arbitrary detention” is a term we often hear when the media and politicians talk about China, but the reality is far more complicated than the average person can appreciate. As long as you don’t go there to stir things up, such as by advocating for Taiwan’s independence in public space, nobody would bother you.
The current diplomatic tension between the United States and China has its roots in America’s fear of China’s rapid rise as an economic powerhouse. Many Americans, especially right-wing politicians and Christian fundamentalists, view China’s rise as a direct threat to US domination of the world without realizing that China, the oldest continuous civilization in the world, was already far ahead of every country in the world 1,000 years ago. During the Song Dynasty (960 AD – 1279 AD), “technology, science, philosophy, mathematics, and engineering flourished. The Song dynasty was the first in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty saw the first surviving records of the chemical formula for gunpowder, the invention of gunpowder weapons such as fire arrows, bombs, and the fire lance. It also saw the first discernment of true north using a compass, first recorded description of the pound lock, and improved designs of astronomical clocks. Economically, the Song dynasty was unparalleled with a gross domestic product three times larger than that of Europe during the 12th century.”
Travel advisories issued by one country against another are political in nature. They are routinely used as diplomatic weapons to settle political scores. One who puts their bias aside would come to the conclusion that China as a travel destination is absolutely safe for Americans.
Whether we like it or not, China’s rise is inevitable no matter which party or people are in charge of the Chinese government. Instead of sitting around waiting for changes to the regime in China, it’s better to go check it out and talk to the Chinese people themselves for an accurate forecast of where the country is headed.
Happy travels!
