美中全球议题对话项目

As fewer Americans choose to study abroad in China, opportunities for American and Chinese students to learn about each other’s perspectives and experiences in an organic way, curated by spontaneity and personal interest, have grown increasingly scarce. This makes people-to-people exchanges like the U.S.-China Student Dialogue essential for building understanding.

In our first dialogue, my group talked about the role of the news media in shaping our attitudes towards China. We noted that American media coverage of China emphasizes U.S.-China competition. Although grounded in geopolitical realities, this framing can reinforce negative feelings and uncertainty about the future of U.S.-China relations.

We also discussed how Americans, especially the younger generation, are increasingly gaining a positive perception of China through its portrayal on social media. Through interacting with content from Chinese creators on platforms like RedNote or watching videos of American influencers traveling to China, they see coverage at the other end of the spectrum, emphasizing the positives of daily life in China.

To gain a thorough understanding of each other’s countries, it is important to not rely solely on information from the news or social media. Social media content is curated by algorithms whose purpose is to maximize engagement above all else, while the news media can similarly prioritize retaining readers’ attention. Direct conversation, by contrast, allows us to lead the discussion without an algorithm directing us to answers.

Although our dialogue sessions were centered around set topics like climate, trade, and technology, inside our Zoom breakout rooms, we had the freedom to choose the questions we wanted to ask each other, and in which directions we wished to lead the conversation.

In one discussion, an American student asked our Chinese peers about what China’s adoption of clean energy looks like in their everyday life, seeking to go beyond headlines to understand how national policies impact everyday citizens. Chinese students in turn asked about the current state of climate action in the United States under the current administration and were surprised to learn that although federal action has stalled, climate action in the United States persists, with U.S. states continuing to shift to clean energy.

During a discussion on tariffs and trade policy, a Chinese student said that the attitude among the Chinese public was that American tariffs would make prices rise in China, a concern also felt by Americans in response to U.S. trade policy. This illustrated how even as the motivation behind the trade war stems from U.S.-China competition, dividing citizens among the two sides, they end up feeling the same impacts.

In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms whose aim is not to inform us, but to keep us engaged as long as possible, person-to-person dialogue is especially meaningful. Looking forward, I am excited for our final virtual dialogue this spring and for the opportunity to meet in person during our trip to Beijing.

Eileen Miller (SFS'26) is a student at Georgetown University studying regional studies with a concentration in East Asia and minoring in Chinese.