The Effect of the Chinese Government’s Political Propaganda and Individual Characteristics on Anti-US Sentiment

Abstract

While China has been experiencing rapid economic growth, its conflicts with the United States have become more public. In particular, the argument that the Chinese government can easily gain public support in establishing and promoting national policies under its authoritarian regime has been on the rise. With this background, this study conducts an empirical analysis of data from 4,366 survey respondents using ordinary least squares and ordered logit models to analyze the effect of the Chinese government’s political propaganda and individual characteristics on anti-US sentiment. The results suggest that this propaganda strengthens anti-US sentiment. As for individual characteristics, party officials have stronger anti-US sentiment. Moreover, interacting exposure to political propaganda with the main variables suggests that members of the Communist Party of China, national minorities, and rural residents have stronger anti-US sentiment, presumably because they are more influenced by political propaganda.