Photo: China Daily

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem of the Republican Party told Fox News on Monday that "China has a 2,000-year plan to destroy this country".

Ever since, the quote has gone viral and many people have been giving the governor lessons in history. Some have written under the comments section of platforms where the news was shared that 2,000 years ago, China was ruled by the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), the Roman Empire was still around, but neither of them had any idea about the existence of the United States of America as Christopher Columbus or Amerigo Vespucci had still not discovered the Americas. It was not until 15 centuries later when European sailors reached American shores, and two centuries more before they founded the US after slaughtering the indigenous people and robbing their lands.

Even if Governor Noem is ignorant about world history, with a degree from South Dakota University she should at least know that her country didn't even exist 247 years ago. So who was China planning to destroy for 2,000 years?

More absurd than her observation is the fact that the voters elected her governor to serve them despite her level of ignorance. Her saying in the same interview that South Dakota will be in the front line against China shows she is a China-hater and that's essentially how she got elected, by first turning people against China and then cashing in.

That's a problem with politics in the US. People there get elected not because of their abilities, but because of their anti-China standing.

By hyping up the "China threat theory" and creating an imaginary enemy, politicians in the US have not only ruined bilateral relations but also created a theater where only China-bashers can survive.