One Point Four Billion Divided by Two
May 6th, 2008 | by This is China! |A British friend told me last week the only problem he has with the Chinese protests against the French supermarkets Carrefour and Auschan is the protests are erratic and sporadic. Reason is: the stores are empty during protests, making it just that much easier for him to shop without the constant press of people that can make shopping even for a carton of soymilk a trial at best. On the other hand, if the protests were scheduled more properly, he would be able to shop with the ease and convenience he’s used to in the UK. (I don’t think though he was aware of the hapless American who had been caught up in the troubles outside a Carrefour in Wuhan; poor soul was mistaken for a Frenchman and rather severely beaten.) In other words, my friend is looking for consistency in Chinese thinking.
What my friend said though put me in mind of double-think of the modern Chinese in his perception of his relationship with the rest of the world. And I don’t just mean THE WEST. It’s pretty much with anyone not of Mainland China.
David Shambaugh in his opinion piece in yesterday’s International Herald Tribune, China’s Competing Nationalisms, discusses this schism precisely.
“Chinese society embodies both types, reflecting a deeper dualistic set of identities: one xenophobic type rooted in past indignities experienced by the Chinese people, the other more cosmopolitan version taking shape along with globalization and China’s integration into the international community.”
But, Shambaugh points out, lets not place on the blame for China’s double-think about the world just on history:
“As a Chinese colleague recently pointed out to me, the current hyper-nationalism is also fueled by the deep feelings of discontent and resentment currently gripping large sectors of Chinese society - wage arrears, stagnant incomes, unemployment, inflation, corruption, severe class disparities, environmental deterioration, moral vacuum and a deep sense of losing ground in China’s Hobbesian economy.”
Something the Powers That Be in China seem not to get yet as make their entrance onto the world stage of opinion is that the audience is taking notes:
“If Chinese nationalism continues to show its insecure rather than its self-assured side, other nations will adapt their China policies accordingly, and instead of winning the world’s respect, China may bring upon itself exactly the kind of “containment” policies it regularly denounces.”
Check out the piece: well worth the read.
