Clued-in | Young Americans should realize the enemy is at home

As an American living in China who frequently returns to the United States, I find it fascinating to observe how Americans view China—both in contrast to the daily reality here and in terms of how American public perception is rapidly shifting.

These changing attitudes were highlighted in a recent report by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, which shows that Millennial and Gen Z Americans increasingly view China less as a critical threat and more as a power with which the United States should engage and cooperate.

According to the March 2026 study conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in cooperation with NPR and Ipsos, only 43 percent of Millennials and 34 percent of Gen Zers view China as a critical threat to the United States, compared to a majority of Boomers (62%) and Gen Xers (56%). Furthermore, solid majorities of Gen Zers (59%) and Millennials (58%) favor a policy of friendly cooperation and engagement, compared to less than half of older generations.

This shift is hardly surprising to anyone plugged into youth culture. Young Americans are increasingly enamored with Chinese culture, technology, and products. Many Western youth speak, half-jokingly, about being in "a very Chinese era" of their lives, adopting everyday Chinese habits and routines. Social media feeds are filled with young Americans sharing clips of gleaming skylines in Shenzhen and Shanghai, or marveling at the natural beauty and historical heritage of the Great Wall and Guilin's karst mountains.

And yet, some US politicians and media outlets continue to whip up hatred and division against China. The trade war and technology restrictions against China surge forward. Baseless accusations of Chinese scholars, businesspeople and researchers as "Chinese agents" in news platforms abound. US National Security Agency Deputy Director Tim Kosiba tried to falsely portray China as a global "spoiler" and "disruptor" at a recent TechNet conference in Augusta, Georgia this month.

To me, however, any condemnation of China issued by US politicians will ring hollow and hypocritical. As of the writing of this commentary, the US national debt has topped a record $40 trillion. The national debt continues to rise, adding nearly $7 billion each day, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a fiscal watchdog group.

The war on Iran seems drag on with greater uncertainty. American Millennials, exhausted by the "forever wars" that defined their upbringing, are simply not buying the political spin.

On the home front, the economic fallout is immediate. Gas prices have surged past $5 a gallon in many states, straining daily commutes and inflating the cost of essential goods across already fragile supply chains.

In workplaces across America, workers' rights are constantly under threat and union busting has become the norm, with many sectors being stripped of bargaining rights and the National Labor Relations Board now increasingly under federal control. With decreasing protections legally or organizationally, American workers are at the mercy of falling or stagnant wages in the midst of rising living costs, lack of job security, and slashed benefits.

The list of domestic issues that young Americans continue to face goes on. Increasing political polarization strains society and sows greater distrust among citizens. The “culture wars” around social issues such as race, gender and identity continue to sharpen. America continues to have one of the world’s highest incarceration rates—roughly four times the global average. American youth grow increasingly frustrated with the US education system, whose standards and curricula continually lag behind those of other developed nations. For many young Americans, the future they face only makes them feel cynical and nihilistic.

As the US government’s false promises of security and prosperity continue to fall apart, it becomes increasingly harder for America’s ruling class to deflect blame or sow xenophobic, jingoistic fear about China among younger generations of Americans. Taking all of this into account, young Americans must, now more than ever, recognize a fundamental truth: the enemy is not China—the enemy is at home.