It has become obvious even to school children that the US-China relations are not on good terms, based on mainstream media reports, although no one has a clear idea why it is so, not even the children’s teachers. The mass media seem to be spinning a picture that China is a threat to the US, but with no specific evidence.

Recently, I came across a life story about a young American lady, Ms. Abigail Washburn, whose devotion to American and Chinese folk music and her encounter with Chinese people triggered my thoughts on US-China relations and current media rhetoric. The title of this article is a statement borrowed from Ms. Abigail Washburn, a clawhammer banjo player, folk song singer and Grammy winner for the Best Folk Album in 2016. The interesting life story of Ms. Washburn would explain why she said that "the US-China relations do not need another lawyer".

Ms. Abigail Washburn as a college student majored in East Asian Studies at Colorado College in Vermont and she took intensive Mandarin language training at Middlebury College (Vermont). She visited China in 1996 and studied Buddhism. After college graduation she was ready to go to China to study law and become a lawyer (with an ambition to help China in judicial reform), but she became a musician and singer instead. I wonder whether Abigail represents a good example of US-China relations?

Life is always full of unpredictable twists and turns, and Abigail by chance was stimulated by American folk music and banjo. She then bought a banjo and intended to bring it to China. As fate dictated, she was discovered at a Kentucky folk music festival and invited to Nashville for making an album. That was certainly a life-changing event and she had to tell her friends in China that she had changed her mind to pursue a music career rather than to be a lawyer. Her friends told her, great, when you are ready, bring your banjo and come to perform in China. As a matter of fact, she did, and she learned and performed Chinese folk songs as well. For example, Tai Yang Chu Lai Xi Yang Yang (太阳出来喜洋洋, The Sun Has Come Out and We Are So Happy) is one that can be heard from YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI7Sd55awSU). Her music career is not very different from many other musicians, touring the country and earning her recognition; except that in her case, her Mandarin knowledge and ability to sing Mandarin folk songs have distinguished her from other American folk song singers.

Ms. Abigail Washburn kept her promise, visited China and performed her bilingual folk music. She even taught American folk music at Sichuan University. She had learned that the Chinese folk singers would use a lot of hand gestures when singing; she understood that the gestures would simply add to the expression of emotions. As a successful musician, she appreciated that music could connect hearts better than anything else. She toured in Tibet in 2006 and performed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Often in her music, the lyrics addressed social issues and current events. Her work made her an ambassador for American culture to China and deservingly, she was named the first US-China Center Fellow of Vanderbilt University in 2013. 

The statement, "US-China Relations Do Not Need Another Lawyer", was made in a TED talk by Ms. Washburn as a TED Fellow in 2012 (https://www.ted.com/talks/abigail_washburn_building_us_china_relations_by_banjo?language=en). She wanted to be a lawyer to improve the US-China relations and yet she became a musician and discovered the power of music. She has formed remarkable connections touring across the US and China while playing banjo and singing American and Chinese folk songs. She met many people who had a story to tell about the US-China relations, adopting children, romance and love, interesting encounters during travel, etc., etc., but none related to “China Threat” or “US Threat”. This makes one wonder why there is so much hostility in the mass media. Is it because the media have no good stories to report or are they simply pursuing a hidden agenda to push the two great countries to be enemies? 

Ever since the US recognized the People’s Republic of China, the cultural exchange activities and interactions between the American people and the Chinese people have improved the US-China relations steadily, yet the official dialog in diplomatic language between the two countries is full of intrigue, suspense and even hostility. Often, the so-called conflicts have no direct impact on each other, rather they have only indirect geopolitical implications. It is hard for citizens to understand the hidden agenda behind diplomatic language and actions, but it is not difficult for citizens to appreciate (through music, for instance) that the people of two great countries are peace loving and friendly towards each other. Neither the Chinese nor the Americans are warmongers.

Of course, there are differences in culture, history, and language, but the friendship among citizens can be built regardless. Quite a number of Chinese children have been adopted in the US. There is a national organization called the Families with Children from China with over 100 chapters in nearly all states. These families are the proof that there is no threat but love between American and Chinese people. In 1999-2013, 71,633 Chinese children were adopted in the US, the highest number of adoptions far exceeding those of other nations. Based on this number and at least 6 American friends per adopted child (2 parents, 4 grandparents, and possible siblings), we can estimate that there are over half a million Americans who are friends of these adopted Chinese children today. How would they feel about the deteriorating US-China relations reported by the media? 

The governments were supposed to serve the people: shouldn't the citizens of the US and China question their governments why the media portray a hostile country to country relationship and yet their citizens obviously do not share such hostility? Why do the US mass media drum up a “China Threat” scenario? Why do the media spin the news, without focus on evidence and without balancing the reporting with positive stories?  

As national security is at stake, including the threat from terrorists, many terrorist events have been reported not only around the world but also in the US homeland. The San Bernardino shooting (12-2-2015) which killed 14 and injured 22 has rekindled in Americans the fear and resentment towards the terrorists, which grew since the tragic 9/11 attack. In contrast, China shows no aggression toward the US other than being competitive economically in trade and co-development. One recalls that Russia or the former Soviet Union had planned to establish a missile base in Cuba, posing an obvious security threat to the US, but China never wanted to have any foreign military base nor intended to place any weapon near the US. In fact, it is the US that would place a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, causing concern in China. China seems to be on the same page with the US as far as the nuclear threat from North Korea is concerned. China's rising economy creating competitive pressure to the US economy is no different from the time when Japan’s economic growth threatened the US economy in the late 1980s and 1990s. The US eventually fended off the Japanese economic threat through industrial transformation and serious trade negotiations. Why can’t the US face the rising Chinese economy without resorting to military confrontation? Ms. Abigail Washburn’s songs and personal story really present us some food for thought on the US-China relations.