Walking the Minefield: Writing About China

Walking the Minefield: Writing About China
Apr 12, 2011 By Jessica A. Larson-Wang, eCh , eChinacities.com

Sometimes writing about China can be a bit like walking through a minefield. All around you are people ready to jump on you for either being too harsh, or too critical. It might surprise some readers who consider me a “China hater” to learn that I’ve gotten a lot of flack on other, foreign-based websites for being an apologist, someone who makes excuses and defends what some consider indefensible about another country or government. I’ve been absolutely raked over the coals by fellow Americans for stating that I do not support any kind of independence movements in this country, or for saying that some policies that Westerners consider draconian do actually make sense in a Chinese context. On the other side of the spectrum, it is hard for any foreigner in China to make even slight criticisms (see my previous article about racism) about China without hearing from many irate Chinese citizens telling you that you ought to go home if you hate China so much, or implying that I must be happy when Chinese people die. Sometimes it feels like I truly can’t win. I’m too much of a China-lover for the folks back home, and too much of a critic for the folks over here.


Photo: David Shay

After living here for many years and having a Chinese family, I feel like I have a unique perspective on this country. When someone who has never been here tries to engage me in a debate about Tibet, or about the one child policy, I usually end up quite angrily defending the Chinese side. These issues are much more complex that people back home realize, and most expats in China have come to have equally complex feelings about them. It is very easy for someone who does not live here and does not see the problems that China faces to judge, from the safety of their own, developed nation, and talk about how things are done here. On the other hand, I live here, and I witness what happens day to day, and have a different perspective and a different background, different lenses, if you will, with which I look at what I see around me. Sometimes a different perspective allows us to see things more clearly – just as living abroad allowed me to be both more critical and more appreciative of my own, home country, living in China, not just as a visitor, but as a permanent resident, allows me to have a perspective that people who have never left China might not have.

I think it is important for anyone who reads English language publications, or, in fact, anyone who considers him/herself to be an astute reader in any language to realize that criticism does not equal hatred. I love my own country, and yet I will criticize her harshly. I will criticize her lack of healthcare for all, I will criticize her ongoing wars abroad, I will criticize the public school system, I will criticize the economy. If you asked my father, a man with more conservative leanings than I, to criticize the country, he’d criticize a different set of issues – taxes, perhaps, or welfare programs, or greedy politicians. Neither of us love our country any less for these criticisms. And were a Chinese citizen, perhaps someone reading this article this very moment, to go over to America and live there for five years and start a family (as happens all the time), I’m sure they’d have criticisms of their own, perhaps similar to mine, perhaps different. Perhaps they’d see issues, as an outsider that I myself never saw. Perhaps a Chinese person living in America with a unique perspective afforded by experience in two different cultures, would be even better able to analyze certain situations in America, and could shed some light on issues that I had never thought of.

The point of these criticisms isn’t to laugh and say, “look how awful that country is! Aren’t we so much better than that?” I’d like to believe that most of us, as educated adults, are above that sort of mocking. The point of gently pointing out some problems with a country, with a city, with a school, or with a family is to help build something even better. No one society is perfect. America is not perfect, Australia is not perfect, Norway is not perfect, Japan is not perfect and China, also, is not perfect. There is no shame in admitting that some issues do exist. And yet what often happens when a foreigner points out an issue with Chinese society is that the message is lost amidst a lot of defensiveness on the part of people who think, “How dare they!” And a lot of time is

 spent pointing out that, well, America isn’t perfect either, and look at Guantanamo and by the way, why do you even stay here if you hate it so much and why don’t you just stick to your own kind anyhow? Which is, of course, missing the point. Pointing out that there is racism (or ethnocentrism, if you will ) in China, or that corruption is rampant, or that the educational system is biased, or that there is a huge disparity between the rich in the poor, or any number of mildly critical observations that foreigners could make, somehow, rather than starting a dialogue or furthering understanding, usually end up in attacks on the person holding the opinion.

Foreigners might live in China for any number of reasons. There are a fair number of us here who, for whatever reason, do not have any intention of leaving any time soon. To say that we should just pack up and go home is a bit silly, considering it isn’t even possible for many of us. And, if we are to make a home someplace, we’re going to have an opinion on that home. Sometimes that opinion will be positive. I love, for example, the sense of family values that Chinese people have; how children are expected to care for their parents in their old age. I love that this government was able to, almost 60 years ago, pull the country out of a feudal era and institute truly modern reforms. I love that this country has amazing marriage laws and that women here are, in the eyes of the law, truly the equal of men. I don’t love that there is no dual citizenship. I don’t love that immigration laws are unheard of. I don’t love that there is no concept of multiculturalism, and yes, that racism, while it doesn’t exist in the sense of lynchings or segregation, does exist in the form of stereotypes and biases. I am sure that most foreigners living in China, or foreigners living anywhere in the world, including Chinese people who are foreigners in America or elsewhere, will have often conflicting opinions about the country where they live. That’s the beauty of it, and it is my sincere hope that no one should be made to feel unwelcome in this country or any simply for expressing opinions.
 

Related Links
Is There Really No Racism in China?
Don't Have $500,000? You’re Staying a Semi-Permanent Resident
The Pursuit of Liberty, Justice, and Patriotic Kitchenware

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2 Comments

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B.A.D

Neutraliser!

I was just wondering what your view was on the westernisation of China. It seems to me that Chinese cannot wait to get rid of their own culture in favour of the superior American one. For example why do think franchises like starbucks, McDonalds, and KFC dominate the market place here. Why do Chinese people prefer German cars over their own ones? The only successful clothing stores that are not European or American are from HK or Taiwan. Why is it that Chinese companies like to employ a white foreigner for business meetings? Because we have trustworthy and reliable faces. Why is it that compared with most European countries the Chinese have such poor English? Could it be that the education system needs a few reforms? Why did you yourself go and study abroad? Probably because you felt you were not learning enough here right? Why are you so defensive of your country? Probably because you know it has many problems so you focus on the problems of others.

Apr 17, 2011 18:18 Report Abuse

B.A.D

Well I know that last comment probably seems a bit arrogant and prejudice but it is based on my personal experience here. I have been contacted a number of times and have attended meetings, book fairs and fashion shows just because I am white or can you think of another reason why they might want me there?

I have to say this practice was very unexpected and I just put it down to the fact that Chinese people don't trust each other or their own systems and policies. Having a foreigner present somehow officiates or legitimises the proceedings

Can you think of another reason why they might want me at their book fairs fashion shows and business meetings? This was when i was fresh out of Uni teaching English and totally unqualified to be present at any of the above...it was a lot of fun :)

Apr 18, 2011 18:23 Report Abuse