Last week, we targeted HarperCollins for publishing genocide supporters like Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts. This week, we are back at it.
In line with its history of uplifting pro-genocide voices, HarperCollins also recently published Senator Tom Cotton’s book titled “Seven Things You Can’t Say About China,” in which Cotton frames himself as a brave truth-teller who has come to save the American populace from the “evil empire” of China. The book is a fevered manifesto of anti-China hate, propping up a fraudulent American moral supremacy in an effort to justify US military action against China. Cotton’s shallow analyses are, in reality, a series of absurd, conspiratorial talking points such as “China has invaded our society” and “China is coming for our kids.” There's nothing intellectual about it.
Cotton starts the book by defending his widely controversial accusations that COVID-19 was created in a lab as a “deliberate” and “malevolent” attack on the world. He says he used “simple common sense, not scientific knowledge or classified intelligence” to back his claims, which isn’t the gloat he thinks it is.
He continues to write a strategically reductionist version of China’s history that suits his narrative, and frames China’s rise as a sinister plot to overthrow the American way of life. The book isn’t a challenge to censorship (which is nonexistent when it comes to villainizing China) but a terrifying portrait of the long-winded internal monologue of the US empire’s attempt to create an enemy and justify war. HarperCollins, the publisher, needs to be held accountable for giving a voice to a man whose policy decisions are backed solely by racism and hate.
👉 Tell HarperCollins: Stop publishing hate and driving war!
The book is full of inconsistencies and hypocrisies, reflecting the Senator’s unapologetic ignorance and pro-war attitudes. Cotton has been criticized in the past for calling slavery a “necessary evil upon which the union was built” and denying that there is systematic racism in the US criminal justice system following the murder of George Floyd. He has voted against immigrant rights, gay marriage, against acts that would help protect women from violence, and against investigating COVID-19 hate crimes. He has called for the invasion of the Hague, should Benjamin Netanyahu get arrested, for the deployment of US troops to counter US protesters, and for more prisoners to go to Guantanamo Bay to “rot in hell.” Additionally, Cotton has taken millions of dollars from the Israeli lobby and continues to be an unwavering voice of support for funding Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Tom Cotton takes every opportunity to promote authoritarianism at home while accusing China of doing the same abroad. His book isn’t just dangerous because of its blatant lying; it’s dangerous because it contributes to a broader political environment that normalizes xenophobia, fear-mongering, and war.
By publishing this book, HarperCollins is amplifying the voice of a politician who has openly endorsed violence, imperial aggression, and racialized fear. Cotton’s positions don’t represent honest discourse or intellectual inquiry. They represent a calculated effort to push the US into deeper hostility with China while silencing voices of peace, cooperation, and truth.
Demand that HarperCollins take accountability for the pro-war, pro-genocide voices it uplifts. The world doesn’t need another war, and it certainly doesn’t need publishers fueling the fire with extremist propaganda disguised as imperialist “truth-telling.”
👉 Tell Harper Collins: Stop giving a platform to pro-war, racist politicians!
Peace and solidarity,
Megan, Jodie, and the CODEPINK Team
📚 Read our full response to the book: Seven Things Tom Cotton Needs to Learn About China.
📚 Take action at your local bookstore! Put a Tom Cotton War Criminal bookmark in the books and move them to the fantasy section!
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