I found this post from Barnett's discussion group very interesting. This line points out that the Chinese Government is trying use Fascism as a way to control.
Essentially, what the government's done in recent years is try to replace individualism with rabid patriotism.
Hey all,
I'm 17 years old and non-Chinese, but recently lived in China for several months. I don't have too many new ideas to state, but would like to comment briefly on the way many Chinese people see relations between the US and the Middle Country, among other things.
Yes, about half of the cab drivers I met during my stay in China asked me who I thought would win in a war between the USA and China. Also, when I was teaching English in schools in Shandong Province, I had one student show me a map which he thought "CLEARLY illustrated that the USA was planning to invade China in the near future". The possibility of a conflict in the future between the two great powers is something that hasn't slipped the minds of the Chinese.
However, let's pause for a second. Who's making China rich?
Yeah, that's right... Western investors. Many, if not almost all of the nicest hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, etc. are run by foreign (read: American) franchises. The people who stay in those hotels are largely Western businessmen. Let's agree on this: a huge proportion of the money being made in all of the big cities in China comes from the wallets of the Westerners. Even to the small businesses in China, the Westerners are the rich "lao wai" (foreigners) whom they can charge 6 times as much as the locals for anything. Believe me, it happened every day to me, unless I took the time to argue with these people in Chinese.
Much more often than not, the Chinese look up to US citizens, because from everything they hear, everybody in the USA is happy, rich, and beautiful. You wouldn't believe how excited the high school kids get when you talk about having a girlfriend when you're 14 years old, or having fewer than 10 hours of school each day. Or even mention the movie "American Pie". The USA is also where a great deal of the smartest Chinese hope to end up. It's absolutely not some enemy that China needs to use for its money before ending up on top.
I've talked to Tom about this too, and it seemed we agreed on this: the Chinese largely view the USA as a partner, not as a competitor. That isn't to say everybody feels this way, and that isn't to say that there won't be any competition in the future between the two countries, but what reason is there for anybody to be so belligerent? What possible problem could emerge that would outweigh, from a Chinese perspective, the tremendous economic benefit of having the USA and other Core countries (even Japan) as economic partners?
Not to mention the fact that the Chinese military sucks.
As for political repression. Over the past 15 years, the Chinese government hasn't improved much in this department, but it hasn't fallen back much either. Many (I would almost say "most") students who I knew outside class privately confessed to me that they disliked Mao Zedong. Many others even publicly stated this.
Essentially, what the government's done in recent years is try to replace individualism with rabid patriotism. Many, many people strive to be the same, and reserve the "fire in their hearts" (which I always thought of as one's individual spirit) for their country. In a sense, this makes people ignore such problems as self-expression, and replaces that desire with apathy. However, it won't last. Many people aren't buying it.
For another thing, you have annoying Americans like me who will sieze any opportunity they can find to tell somebody about things like freedom of speech, expression, or press. Hell, I played Rage Against the Machine in class, and tried to get the students to analyze the lyrics of "Bulls on Parade." I also constantly talked about disagreeing with George Bush, and bringing up how "it's interesting that we say such things about Bush, but people don't say that about Chinese government. why is that?" And constantly complained that the news stations we watched were "horrible" and "didn't tell the truth" about issues like Taiwan.
For another thing, you have very rapidly expanding connectivity in China that, sooner or later, will grow beyond the control of Beijing. Has the U.S. government successfully stopped 12 year-olds from looking at inappropriate pictures online? Nope. What makes you think the Chinese will be able to keep the Internet under control forever? Not even to mention the fact that, the more foreigners who visit China and make friends with Chinese people, the more the word is going to get out that Chinese people are being unfairly denied many inalienable rights. I met so many people just like me over there, constantly causing issues and making Chinese people think over their government's policies more than they'd like to. Asking questions like, "well, you say that the good outweighs the bad as far as Mao Zedong goes, but how does bringing some of the country together in spirit make up for letting well over 30 million people starve to death or be killed," does have an effect on people.
Anyway, that's it for now, if you'd like to, you can contact me. I hope this helped clarify at least a few issues.
Be well,
Sam |
