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yin/yang
Talker
Joined: Feb 21, 2004
Posts: 81
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 Posted:
June 08, 2004 - 10:40 AM |
 
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| Post subject: Nationalism in China |
Acujerjer expressed his concerns in several threads about the strong nationalism sentiment he felt Chinese people have. Here is one of them:
But from what I have seen in America and what I have seen in China, I would honestly say that if China was in the "World Power" position the world would be double f-ucked! I mean in the US there are tons of prοtests and people opposed to Bush and look how much destruction he did. Imagine a country like China where 1.3 billion people would be backing up the leader ready to die for their Nationality. I tell you, America is a bad world power, but damn, China would be horrible! I mean after years of torment in the 70s of the cultural revolution, all the Chinese seem to have an amnesia of that time and still honor and love Mao. The Chinese government could kill every Chinese and leave 1 last person and he would still insist he is a patriot. What China needs is a Chinese Michael Moore.
The following is how some Chinese look at this issue. It’s not exhaustive review but some representative ones I hope that can give some general ideas from a different perspective.
Starting from early 1990s, there is a strong nationalistic wave in China. While this new nationalism is same with the traditional one in that both hope for a strong and powerful China, it has some distinct characteristics. So some scholars coined the term neo-nationalism to differentiate it from the traditional one. The main differences are: domestically, the neo-nationalism is more conservative. The traditional nationalism started in May 4th movement was strongly critical of the existing political and economic systems and institutions, including the government, whereas the neo-nationalism identifies itself with the current political system and supports the government in general. Internationally, the neo-nationalism is more assertive and even aggressive. Its main goal is to change the existing political and economical world order which it deems as unfair, to create a new one which would be more in China’s national interest and better satisfies China’s nationalistic emotions.
It hasn’t developed into a systematic and unified theory or ideology yet. There are different versions. The official one advocated by the government is called patriotism. It calls for the support of the party and the government. The unofficial ones varies greatly in their theory and their closeness with the government but they have a common ground, that is, to make China strong, to oppose the dominance of the world by Western powers, especially the United States. Among them, the most radical group is called “say no” sect. In their best seller book, the three authors told people that “we should be get ready to go to war”, “the big war is better than the small one, and the sooner, the better for the war”. Another representative of this group, Wang Xiaodong went further. In his article “Quest of a Chivalry” (for those who can read Chinese, here is the link for his article:http://www.confuse2000.com/confuse4/06.htm), he quoted the lines from that romantic poet Li Bai from Tang dynasty “ to kill one person for every 10 steps I charge ahead, and I do it without stop for 1000 miles”. He said for the world that is being dominated and ruled by hegemonist and totalitarian power(s), the only way we can save the world from that is to have the gallant, Robin Hood type, chivalrous spirit expressed in the poem. (Wang thinks America is a democratic society inside its country but a big bully abroad. This article was published before the Iraqi war) We can easily see some resemblance of their radical ideas with Taliban and Bin Laden’s Jihad here.
Since 1990s, China’s growth rate has been kept at about 9% annually. China ranks 7th in term of its GDP in the world. China’s foreign trade volumn reached 800 billion USD in 2003 and ranked 5th in the world in 2002(didn’t find the ranking for 2003). Its foreign currency reserve reached $415.7 billions in January 2004, second only to Japan. Entry to WTO, the hosting of the Olympic in 2008, and the manned spacecraft-the third in the world etc. show that China’s strength and international status have been raised significantly. This helps boosted the ego of the Chinese people and strengthened its “great China” complexes.
Some elites proposed the concept of “greater China” which consist of “political China”, “economic China” and “cultural China”. Political one is within the boundary of its territory; economic one would include all the economic and commercial activities conducted by ethnic Chinese throughout the world and the cultural China would cover those places where Confucianism has some influence. I am sure they have some southeast Asian nations, Korea and Japan in their mind when they talk about this concept. They think the 21st century is the Pacific rim century and Chins should play an outstanding role in this century. The neo-nationalism demands that China have bigger voice in the international affairs and it should fight more for its power and interest in the international stage.
But not everyone is convinced that there is a neo-nationalism in China. Some call it the pseudo-nationalism. A scholar named Zhu Zhiyong said, the true nationalism should build upon a faith that holds some values it believes in and it should have the conviction and loyalty to the faith. Nationalism in that sense in China, he said, is rare, at least it is true among the Han people. He said that Chinese people are traditionally selfish, pragmatic and paying attention only to individual interest. Seldom throughout the history, do people stick to their convictions with loyalty when they have to sacrifice their own interest. When it does no harm to himself/herself, everyone would say something to release his/her nationalistic sentiment. But when there is a danger coming, everyone would run away. When they can see some benefits, they would rush to without giving much thought to the nationalism they have been talking about, such as the chance to go abroad to study or emigrate or even the chance to work in the foreign companies.
The number of the students taking TOEFL is steadily increasing (not sure about the number in 2003). Many students, after they condemned the hegemony of the USA at campus, then immediately switched to the preparation of going abroad. Most of those students who asked sharp questions when President Clinton gave his speech at Beijing University on June 29th, 1998 now have gone to the USA. The girl student who asked Clinton what he did about the human rights violation in USA married to an American and now lives in the States, practicing internationalism with her own actions and her body. (for the ladies in this forum, I have absolutely no problem or whatsoever no matter you already have a foreign hubby/bf or are just looking).
Q: Mr. President, with regard to the question of democracy, human
rights and freedom, actually this is an issue of great interest to
both the Chinese and American peoples. But, to be honest, our two
countries have some differences over these issues. In your address
just now you made a very proud review and retrospection of the history
of the American democracy in human rights. And you have also made some
suggestions for China. Of course, for the sincere suggestions, we
welcome. But I think I recall one saying, that is we should have both
criticism and self-criticism.
So now I'd like to ask you a question. Do you think that in the United
States today, there are also some problems in the area of democracy,
freedom, and human rights, and what your government has done in
improving the situation? (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: I do, and, first of all, let me say, I never raise this
question overseas in any country, not just China, without
acknowledging first, that our country has had terrible problems in
this area -- keep in mind, slavery was legal in America for many years
-- and that we are still not perfect. I always say that, because I
don't think it's right for any person to claim that he or she lives in
a perfect country. We're all struggling toward ideals to live a better
life. So I agree with the general point you made.
Now, I will give you two examples. We still have some instances of
discrimination in America -- in housing or employment or other areas
based on race. And we have a system set up to deal with it, but we
have not totally eliminated it. And in the last year, I have been
engaging the American people in a conversation on this subject, and we
have tried to identify the things that government should do, the
things that the American people should do either through the local
government or through other organizations, and the attitudes that
should change the minds and hearts of the American people. So that's
one example.
Now, let me give you another example. We have -- when I ran for
President in 1992, I was in a hotel in New York City, and an American
immigrant from Greece came up to me and he said, my son is 10 years
old and he studies the election in school and he says I should vote
for you. But he said, if I vote for you, I want you to make my son
free, because my son is not really free. So I asked this man, what do
you mean? And he said, well, the crime is so high in my neighborhood,
there are so many guns and gangs that my son does not feel that he --
I can't let him walk to school by himself, or go across the street to
play in the park. So if I vote for you, I want you to make my son
free.
I think that's important, because, you see, in America, we tend to
view freedom as the freedom from government abuse or from government
control. That is our heritage. Our founders came here to escape the
monarchy in England. But sometimes freedom requires affirmative steps
by government to give everyone an equal opportunity to have an
education and make a decent living and to preserve a lawful
environment. So I work very hard to try to bring the crime rate down
in America, and it's now lower than it has been at any time in 25
years, which means that more of our children are free. But the crime
rate is still high; there is still too much violence.
So we Americans need to be sensitive not only to preserve the freedoms
that we hold dear, but also to create an environment in which people
can build a truly good and free life.
That's a good question. (Applause.)
Another scholar Wang Lixiong said that the foreigners should not be puzzled or scared by China’s nationalism. He said: “in my opinion, the so called nationalism in China is just a kind of release like those football hooligans in England. They cheer for their own team and try to insult the other teams and their fans. China’s nationalism can’t be a threat to the world. The true nationalism is a belief, it needs the sacrifice like those hijackers on September 11. But in China, after one hundred years’ chaos, now the whole nation is now just fighting for the personal gains and profit. There is now no foundation to build a belief upon. You can find numerous people who make all kinds of fuss but when you need someone to go to the battlefield, you won’t find a soul. Once China really has a free flow of the information and the freedom of speech, what the foreigners now see as irrational and difficult to understand things in China will soon Change.
Zhang Zuhua maintained that if the extreme nationalism is not checked in China, it could be potentially dangerous to China and the world. He said there are two kinds of nationalisms. One he calls healthy nationalism and the other he calls morbid nationalism. But I am afraid I don’t have time to elaborate on his analysis now. |
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cornsey1011
Wonder Wit
Joined: Mar 23, 2003
Posts: 3781
Location: Shanghai...looking for a new abode
Status: Offline
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| Posted:
June 14, 2004 - 08:18 PM |
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| Quote: |
| He said there are two kinds of nationalisms. One he calls healthy nationalism and the other he calls morbid nationalism. But I am afraid I don’t have time to elaborate on his analysis now. |
I don't think you need to...most people understand the horrible kind of nationalism that comes at the expense of others and the good nationalism which is just a general pride in making the place you live and surroundings as good as they can be.
Very interesting post and helps to make things more clear. I have a friend who grew up in China but moved away when he was 16. He is 34 now and his biggest fear about returning to China is what he has called the blind nationalism of people here...and how he feels it is the morbid kind and bent on the expense of other nations.
That certainly wouldn't be good for China in the short or long term. |
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