Everything everyone else here is saying is true, but lets also not forget the anglo roots to this. Way way back in the imperial british hayday there was a pretty intense feeling that China, like north america before, and like india at the time, was an unruly mass of uncivilized natives. That sort of perception still persists to some degree and even manifested in things like JR Tolkien basing (by his own admission) his orcs entirely on the characteristics of asians. I think he may have even used the term mongo-etc.

Anyway, on top of this, and separate from the colonial perception of north american first peoples, the anglo world has always maintained a perception of chinese people as a hivemind. This I think, as far as I’ve read and experienced, has to do with beliefs about chinese harboring some form of spooky modern confucianism, and in the modern context this translates to the hyper-individualists in the west contrasting themselves with any sense of collectivism in China.

You end up with every westerner essentially thinking of Chinese people as zerglings,a mindless horde of insectlike peasants who, while should be pitied, are nonetheless the tools of a ruthless hivemind state.

I live in skorea and even here that perceptions exists. It’s very common in Japan as well, or even Hong Kong. In fact, HK’s “Fox news” creator even put out ads comparing mainlander chinese to a locust swarm, invading their country with their babies. The big billboard had a literal locust on it lmfao.