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Sinophobia is a consistent hostility toward people of Chinese origin, and may also refer to hostility of China's culture or history. The term describes the actions and attitudes of individuals as well as the policies and pronouncements of governments and other organizations.

While the term essentially denotes an ethnic bigotry it is often used in connection with politics and may not be confined to non-ethnic Chinese: protests against and criticism of the People's Republic of China by supporters of Taiwan independence, for instance, are sometimes considered examples of Sinophobia. Many Chinese use the term "Sinophobia" in preference to "Anti-Chinese sentiment" as the former implies a racial bias or bigotry, which many Chinese see as implicit in Western criticism of China and the Chinese. Using the term "Sinophobia" makes it easy to dismiss the possibility that observers may have serious, non-racially motivated criticisms towards modern Chinese culture, customs and methods of government.

In Asia

Significant Chinese peoples exist in a number of South-East Asian countries, including minority populations in Malaysia and Indonesia and a majority one in Singapore. Generally urban and often wealthy businesses owners, these transplanted Chinese have traditionally controlled much capital and general economic activity in these countries despite their minority status. Resentment amongst the poorer majority has often led to anti-Chinese violence, such as in 1969 in Malaysia and as recently as 1998 in Indonesia. The government of Malaysia is constitutionally obliged to uphold the privileged status of the Bumiputra, at the expense of but not limited to ethnic Chinese.

In the West

China has figured in the Western imagination for more than two millennia in a variety of ways: positively, as an inventive, well-organized alternative civilization and negatively as a monolithic and repressive society.

In modern times, China has been an ambivalent immigration source for the west and obviously Sinophobic policies (such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, the policies of Richard Seddon, and the White Australia policy) and pronouncements on the "yellow peril" were in evidence as late as the mid-20th century in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This has largely subsided however, and Chinese immigrants are often considered to be a model minority. In Russia, and especially in Siberia and Russian Far East, there is a fear of demographic takeover by Chinese immigrants in sparsely populated Russian areas.

Internationally, China's booming economy and tremendous growth in power has been the subject of much speculation and apprehension with many believing that China could soon be in a position to challenge the United States as the sole superpower. Many are uneasy with the prospect of burgeoning Chinese hegemony as a country controlled by an unelected, single-party communist state. Many observers concerned with the lack of political and religious freedom in China increased their dislike of Chinese political machinations after watching the suppression of protesters during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

As China's economic growth and attempts at military expansion and modernization continues, many foreign observers cringe at what they perceive to be an increase in displays of Chinese nationalism in sports, diplomacy, space exploration, and in the economic realm. Although this development may be compared to other nations during similar periods of modernization, the fact that an authoritarian Chinese government appears to be encouraging its appearance as a way to offset criticism towards itself is disturbing to many throughout the world, and is itself a source of increased resentment towards the People's Republic of China.

• Anti-national sentiment