ASAM paper

Xinyu Shang

ASAM 100AA

Week 7 Reading Journal

This week’s readings continue to offer more insights into the relationship between

China and America. I was especially impressed by the video “The Chinatown Files”

where the narrated experiences offer great insights on the relationship that existed

between China and America in the 1800-1900s. From the video, it is evident that the

Chinese were largely looked down upon by the Americans, especially since Lowe notes

that in the 1800’s there were certain prejudices against the Chinese, where they were

forced to work for longer hours to make a living, name-calling and also to spend more

time in school because of their language handicap. As a result of the massive

discrimination that the Chinese migrants faced in the United States, they remained close-

knit starting their own schools and failing to assimilate with the Americans. Nonetheless,

after China set up its own government, the United States perceived China to be a

communist threat which resulted in the torturing of the Chinese in Chinatown. It became

more difficult for Chinese Americans to connect with their families back in China, as

America became more concerned about China’s government.

In the article, “It was not a winnable war” the tension that the Chinese Americans

faced while in America is once again explored through the story of Johnny Wong. Once

again America was involved in Vietnam in a bid to stop the spread of communism.

According to Wong it was difficult taking part in a war where one was already perceived

to be the enemy. Also, Wong notes that in the end, from his perspective, America had

little to gain from the war and hence all that it was dosing was destroying lives and

properties for no apparent reason. The war resulted in multiple deaths for nothing since

the war according to Wong lacked a formidable basis, especially on the part of America.

In the end, the war was just but a big loss for America, since the communists in North

Vietnam ended up signing a peace treaty with South Vietnam. Hence, America’s greed

and anxiety over communism only served to fuel the war while in real sense resulting in

more deaths and psychological torture on the army.

Lastly, the article, “Father and Son” also helps to shed light on the predicaments

that befell on the Chinese Americans following the spread of the Chinese Communism

ideologies. According to the article, America was in fear of Communist infiltration in

their country and hence to control that, the immigration department was on the look-out

for all the Chinese who had illegally immigrated into the United States. Such resulted in

mass deportations and prosecutions of the Chinese who were accused of having illegally

immigrated into the United States. For Chuck, it was twice as worse, since his radical

communism views while working in the United States resulted in his indictment on

fraudulent claims. Even worse, Chuck was forced to justify against his son resulted in

both of them being jailed.

Overall, the readings this week offer a very unique account of the relationship that

existed between China and America in the 19th century. From the above extracts, it is

evident that America was threatened by China’s communism ideas to the extent that it

tortured the Chinese-America just so as to limit the infiltration of the communist ideas.