What a Mask Reveals-- Assessing Chinese and American Societal Differences

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.210519.197How to use a DOI?

Keywords

COVID-19, Cross-cultural comparison, US-China relations, Global trade

Abstract

The usage of personal protection equipment (PPE) such as face masks diversify immensely in the US and China during the COVID-19 pandemic. To fully address this issue, this paper conducts a multi-aspect research on US and China society. This research aims to compare the two cultures and identify the underlying problems paramount within the two societies, which caused the different approach to using and regulating PPEs. Comparisons were conducted on four different domains: public culture, system, policy, and global supply chains. Findings from these research show that (a) China holds a strong collectivist value shaped by Confucianism traditions, and the US holds an individualistic value inspired especially by Lockean liberalism; (b) The top-down model and federalism model provides different levels of central power; (c) The pandemic is politicized in both countries: US policies show a heavy distrust in science, and China seeks to gain foreign-policy interests through mask diplomacy; (d) Trade barriers, created due to cultural differences and political significance, injure the supply chains of medical supplies. The author hopes that this research will offer insights to researchers and policy-makers interested in COCID-19 and cross-cultural comparisons.

Copyright

© 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Shangkai Su
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/20
TI  - What a Mask Reveals-- Assessing Chinese and American Societal Differences
BT  - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (ICHSSR 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 981
EP  - 991
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210519.197
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.210519.197
ID  - Su2021
ER  -