oh man, things are escalating. i'm scared. there have been anti-beijing olympics cartoons in the last 3 editions of the Tech, and i think chinese people are finally figuring out that americans do not like china.
haha, then they were like, The Tech has free speech, but they have a constraint that they can't hurt people's feelings who live in the community. i'm like, ummmm...i don't think they have that constraint actually. they say, the Tech is not backed by a political organization. they still don't get it. americans' view of China is not because of a political organization. oh well, they say, we have to speak louder. we have to protest. that's fine, but they should not try to dictate to the Tech what they are and are not allowed to publish. they have no such rights. this is america. i don't really see the point anyway. this is what people think. so you get them to stop posting some cartoons. it doesn't change what they think.
This is a list of the most important misunderstandings that Americans have about Chinese people.
1. Many people do not understand why Chinese people consider boycotting the Olympics an insult to the Chinese people. Many people feel that it is clear that they are protesting the government, not the people.
Chinese people are proud of the Olympics and proud of the progress they see in China. After more than 100 years of war and revolution, the past 20 years have been a time of peace and prosperity. This is the first time China has ever been economically able to host the Olympics not to mention socially stable enough. Although the Olympics is not politics-free in practice, the original concept of having Olympics is to have an event where nations put aside their political differences and come together to celebrate sports. Chinese people don't view the Olympics as something that celebrates the government, but rather something that celebrates the accomplishments of China, the nation and the people. Protesters and media often have an outdated view of China, focus on China's shortcomings, and even publicizes wrong information. Furthermore, many Americans and other Western people are not skeptical of their media so they take these reports on face value. There is almost no effort to understand modern China, and how Chinese people feel about their government now. Thus, Chinese people do not think boycotting the Olympics is based on informed arguments. When protestors and the media criticize China, they rarely distinguish between China and the Chinese leadership, and almost never refer to Chinese leaders by name. Chinese people feel that there are strong anti-China sentiments left over from the Cold War in the United States (and other Western developed countries such as Britain, France, and Germany) that largely motivate calls for boycotting the Olympics in China.
2. Many people think that Chinese people view the Chinese government as oppressors. Many Americans think that the Chinese government promotes Chinese nationalism.
Because of the progress that China has made, many Chinese believe in the government's commitment to reform and further progress. The Chinese Communist Party admit that many of the policies implemented between 1950-1976 were ultimately harmful and sometimes disastrous. In light of the reforms since then, most Chinese have made their peace with the government and credit the government for shepherding China's rapid development. Chinese people in general believe their government acts in good faith and intends to improve the lives of the people.
How Chinese people feel about the government must be put into historical context. In the 1800s until 1945 (the end of WWII), China was too weak to defend its territory from countries such as Britain, France, Portugal, the United States, Japan, Germany, and Italy. When the last dynasty finally fell in 1911, a Republic was nominally founded, but it was not actually powerful enough to unify the country. As a result, China was a land of bandits, warlords, and strife. After the Communist Party took over in 1949, the United States had a policy of "containment," fighting China in North Korea and Vietnam. The CIA also secretly funded and armed the Dalai Lama from 1956-1976, and the Tibetans were helpful in gathering intelligence for the US government. Chinese people see these as attempts to chip away territory from China in order to weaken it. As a result, Chinese people believe in the importance of staying unified. It is the same principle behind the maxim 'United we stand, divided we fall.' To this end, the Chinese people view favorably the government's ability to keep China unified and even regain sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macau, British and Portugese colonies respectively. To Chinese people, this is about China's national security.
Ever since 1911, the Chinese people have been very patriotic and have mobilized in movement after movement. Although there has been a certain amount of reconciliation with the government, Chinese people don't really think there has been a rise in nationalism/patriotism. It is just becoming more apparent to those outside China. At any rate, there are few governments that do not encourage its population to be patriotic. The roots of Chinese patriotism are deep, as deep as American patriotism to America.
3. Chinese people feel that Americans are very hypocritical because of its involvement in Iraq and inaction regarding living conditions of the Palestinian people. Americans always say, "two wrongs don't make a right."
Chinese people don't want to excuse the wrongs the Chinese government has done, but many Western nations are claiming moral higher ground, which seems very unfair. It is difficult for the Chinese government to make concessions while America does not take action towards righting its own wrongs. For the past 20 years, Chinese people have embraced Western institutions and ideas and have high opinions of Western nations as standards for how China should be eventually. China has engaged with its neighbors and Western nations and adopted many international standards. These double standards cause many Chinese people to feel disillusioned about Americans' commitment to their own ideals. Increased distrust only escalates conflict instead of resolving it. Besides increased cynicism towards the West, there is decreased faith in Western institutions, which makes Chinese people less enthusiastic about cooperating and adopting international standards. If Americans are really interested in resolving conflict, they should really play down the moral superiority and hold their own government accountable for invading Iraq on false pretenses.
5. Many people don't understand why China criticizes the Dalai Lama and accuse Chinese of "cultural genocide". They say, the Dalai Lama has already said he supports the Olympics and that he doesn't ask for independence.
Again, because of the Dalai Lama's history with the CIA, Chinese people don't trust him as much as Americans and other Westerners. Some of China's criticism of the Dalai Lama is also just a show. For the international community, China wants to show it's displeased with Western nations' strong support of the Dalai Lama. Western nations' ambiguous support for things the Dalai Lama does not officially call for such as boycotting the Olympics and making Tibet an independent country hurts the Dalai Lama's credibility. Inside China, the government has to say some harsh words to appease the population's anger over the violent riots.
However, the Dalai Lama accusing China of cultural genocide is very objectionable to Chinese people and the Chinese government. The Dalai Lama criticizes the building of a railroad to Tibet and other efforts to develop Tibet. Construing these efforts of the Chinese government to make life better for Tibetans as cultural genocide is very offensive. Chinese people can understand Tibetans being dissatisfied and wanting to be more involved in the government, but to say the Chinese are committing genocide is really extreme. If what's going on in Tibet is genocide, what would be an appropriate word for the living conditions of Iraqi's? The other problem is that it sounds reactionary, as if he wants to preserve the old Tibetan way of life. Well, the old Tibetan way of life and the Tibetan religion is deeply linked with an exploitative social caste system. Of course, the Dalai Lama can't possibly really be promoting that way of life. Still, accusing the Chinese of cultural genocide makes Chinese people cynical about the Dalai Lama and makes it difficult for the Chinese government to make concessions.
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