China's Cultural Influence in the Arab World: A Complex Tapestry of Perception and Stereotypes

 Explore the diverse perceptions of China and its culture in the Arab world, from admiration for open-mindedness to the mystique surrounding Chinese traditions. Discover how China's growing economic and political influence shapes its image in Arab media and society.

Introduction

China’s footprints in the Arab countries have ballooned significantly over the past couple of decades. These developments have increased the interest of Arab countries in China and its culture. Particularly, the unprecedented level of interest is attributed to China’s growing economic and political influence in the Middle East.  According to Khan et al. (2022), China’s positive image in Arab media is the result of its friendly relationship and healthy economic undertakings in the Arab countries. Therefore, the Arab media, such as mainstream and social media (Facebook and Quora) largely utilize a positive and neutral tone when covering issues related to Chinese culture.  The perception of the Arab countries of Chinese culture is diverse and nuanced a reflection of a myriad of socioeconomic and political ties between the two regions. 

Non-prejudiced and open-minded

Arabs perceived the Chinese as non-prejudiced and open-minded. Notably, findings of studies on stereotypes in American and Europe countries have viewed the Chinese people to be prejudiced and narrow-minded (Siy et al., 2016).  In this view, the Arab countries' media view of the Chinese as non-prejudiced and open-minded is deeply rooted in the traditional and political sphere. Consequently, politically Arab people consider china and its culture as a friend who gave them fair treatment, compared to the European people. Arguably, Arab society is conservative, with characteristics attributed to the supremacy of religion and traditional rules and regulations (Roy, 2012). Therefore, the widespread perceptions that the Chinese occupational and business world practices are nurtured without the code of religion that is similar to that of the western countries, and are easily integrated into the expectations of the west-mode of modernization, forms the perception of the Arab countries on the Chinese as open-minded and creative. Arab countries' social media platforms are saturated with opinions that China is a developed country succeeding while curving an independent path, not dictated by western countries and global institutions. Thus, the positive stereotype of the non-prejudiced and open-minded China is due to its conservative approach to economic and political issues.

Exotic and mystifying

Chinese culture is uncommon in many Arab countries and difficult to understand.  According to Fiske (2017), a cultural variation is central to stereotype formations that cut across different regions and culture. The Chinese people tend to focus on traditional practices such as acupuncture and eating different foods which are not common in the Arab world. In the other words, the Oriental cuisine of the Chinese is not very popular in Arab countries.   Therefore, as Chinese culture is seen as exotic and difficult to understand, some individuals have developed negative opinions towards Chinese culture.  The Buddha religion is not well understood by many people in Arab countries (Alharbi et al., 2019). An ardent Muslim would find it hard to agree with some of the Buddha teachings which are perceived as contradicting Muslim teachings.  With mystifying religion, Arab stereotypes Chinese as arrogant and aggressive. Such findings are in agreement with some of the earlier studies on stereotyping Chinese as aggressive and selfish in the western countries' media as well as surveys of the public viewpoint.  Therefore, though China and Arab nations enjoy a strong relationship, Chinese culture remains exotic and mysterious in the Arab world.

Conclusion

 Arab countries and media and individuals through social media accounts tend to have a different perspective of China’s culture and its impacts on the region. Some are positive, while some are negative. Notably, the general public’s perception tends to differ from those of the elites. The elites tend to have more insights and experience in the Chinese culture, thus creating a more positive perception.

 References

Alharbi, J., & Al Hadid, L. (2019). Towards an understanding of compassion from an Islamic perspective. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(7-8), 1354-1358.

 

Fiske, S. T. (2017). Prejudices in cultural contexts: Shared stereotypes (gender, age) versus variable stereotypes (race, ethnicity, religion). Perspectives on psychological science, 12(5), 791-799.

 

 Khan, M. K., Sallam, M. H., Pratt, C. B., & Farid, T. (2022). Stereotyping the Chinese in Arab Nations: Effects of media use, perceived realism, and perceived Chinese-Arab relations. The Social Science Journal, 1-21.

Roy, O. (2012). The transformation of the Arab world. Journal of democracy, 23(3), 5-18.

 

 Siy, J. O., & Cheryan, S. (2016). Prejudice masquerading as praise: The negative echo of positive stereotypes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42(7), 941-954.