Op-Ed: A Chinese Meme Reveals a Risky Mindset

China has a new buzzword for America's troubles, and it's not exactly flattering. Writing in the New York Times from Beijing, global health scholar Yanzhong Huang describes how the meme of the "American kill line," borrowed from the lingo of video games, has gone mainstream in Chinese social media and conversation. It expresses the idea that millions of US families are one crisis away from collapse, even if US violent crime is down and its economy is still far larger than China's. Huang argues that the myth of a crumbling America is a risk as President Trump prepares for a visit this week.

• "I see a dangerous new overconfidence taking hold in my native country based on misplaced notions of American decline," he writes. "I fear it is fueling a sense of intransigence that is making Chinese leaders more willing to weaponize their nation's power and less likely to back down in future confrontations with the United States."

Huang traces how years of state messaging, nationalist influencers, and a purge of Western political ideas from Chinese universities have turned "US decline" into near-conventional wisdom, especially among younger Chinese. Huang urges Washington to pair deterrence with renewed people-to-people ties—starting with easier visas and more exchanges—to puncture misperceptions on both sides. Read the full essay.