Yulin Zhuang
The Loss of Soft Power
American deaths in the Middle East have long stopped being headline news. Yet still, occasionally, there will be a blast large enough to warrant comment. In China, news of the war causes a few raised eyebrows and a lot of heads shaken. My family, at the dinner table, will talk about how terrible it is. The conversation goes something like this: “See? This is what happens when you interfere with other countries’ internal affairs.” Followed by a rhetorical question, aimed in my general direction: “So why do you suppose the US invaded Iraq? If they just knew enough to mind their own business, they wouldn’t be having this problem.” And finally the smug suggestion: “America should learn from China. China makes friends wherever it goes, not enemies. That’s because we don’t try to tell them what to do.”
Why is China Focused on Winning Gold Medals?
In a new column here at The Hypermodern we pose a question and have our writers offer their disparate opinions on the issue. Of course we welcome opinions from our readers as well. This first question comes from the results of the Olympics and China’s dominant number of gold medals. But why the emphasis on bringing home the gold? Here are our thoughts, in no particular order.
There’s no Ch-I-na in Team
A recent Asia Times article had a rather interesting take on the Olympic Games. Besides ranking countries by gold medals per capita (with China and the United States ranking 33rd and 47th respectively, and Jamaica a stunning 1st), it points out that while China is now the new Olympic powerhouse, China has an extremely inactive population. I’d like to expand on that.
Olympics Go Home
I respectfully request that the Olympics leave China. Please take the Olympic flame back to Athens. Instead of bringing the joy, prosperity, and openness that was promised, the Games have brought us nothing but headache. Our lives have been made more complicated and wearying, so I make this appeal of behalf of foreigners in China, and not a few Chinese as well: Olympics go home.
The Myth of the West: Part 1 - Kaifang
Orientalism is a powerful idea in Western culture. It has associations with being strange, foreign, or representing the Other. It conjures up images of an ancient society, filled with narrow-eyed, inscrutable men; willowy women with painted faces and silk dresses; and benign septuagenarians with fists of steel and a mouth full of riddles. It is a compelling image, one most Westerners treat as phantasmagoria; a myth with little substance in today’s reality. In China, there is an equally compelling myth called xifang, or Western. But unlike Orientalism in the West, this myth is still very much alive and relevant to today’s Chinese.
The Source of Chinese Nationalism
Chinese nationalism is a living fire that burns in the hearts of China’s citizens. And, like any fire, it can be unpredictable. Many in the West feel as if China’s nationalistic pride is state-directed and controlled. Protests and demonstrations are seen as either government directed or fueled by misinformation from state-controlled media. This is, like many monolithic views of “the sleeping giant,” a fundamentally oversimplified view. Chinese nationalistic pride has taken on a life of its own, and it is difficult to predict where it will lead the country.
Nobody to Blame
Many are surprised by the Chinese government’s open response to the quake disaster. They laud the government for having what seems to be an almost miraculous reversal of policy compared to other natural disasters—in 1976, the Chinese tried to suppress news of the Tangshan earthquake that killed 240,000 people. It covered up the Yellow River floods of the last decade, the SARS epidemic of several years ago, and the railway crash of this year. With nonstop news broadcasts, unlimited access (so far) for journalists both foreign and domestic, this seems like the herald of a new age of news freedom and the first step in greater openness and accountability. You couldn’t be more wrong.
Neither the Time Nor the Place
In the wake of the Olympic torch, chaos and pandemonium. In London, at least 30 people were arrested. Police tackled activists, including one that was intercepted bearing a fire extinguisher to take out the Olympic torch. In Paris, at least 20 people have been arrested and large parts of the planned torch relay canceled. Athletes and celebrities have been harassed by booing crowds waving pro-Tibet banners. One athlete in a wheelchair—a ping-pong champion carrying the Olympic torch—was pelted with bottles and fruit. The amount of security surrounding the torch resembles an entire pro football team’s worth of brawny bodyguards. Ladies and gentlemen, this situation has passed beyond political protest and into the realm of utter farce.
The Crisis of Ambition
I had only been teaching in Beijing for a few months when I decided to ask my students about their future hopes, dreams, and aspirations. It seemed like a simple thing, guaranteed to spark some conversation and discussion and allow me to learn a little more about them. I was therefore surprised when the question engendered no comments at all. I thought it might have just been shyness so I quizzed students individually, but all I got were shrugs. I thought it might have been a vocabulary issue, so I switched to Chinese. The answer I received was simple: “I don’t know. Graduate and find a job, I guess.”
Fireworks Free For All
It began about a week ago. Sharp noises echoing through the chill winter air of Beijing. It started with isolated instances—noises heard far in the distance that reverberated from high rise to high rise. As the week rolled on, the frequency increased. Heavier explosions would leave car alarms blaring long after the echo died away. Shrill, whistling screams would be followed by a deep, echoing boom! The cacophony peaked at midnight on the 7th, becoming a ceaseless barrage and leaving at least one dead and many hospitalized. Today, empty cartridges and shreds of red paper litter the streets, blowing like tumbleweed across broad avenues, accompanied by gritty powder and ash that stings the eyes. The faint tang of sulfur lingers in the air.
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