Category Archives: International

People from the US have told me how much they hate it when others make gross generalisations and say horrible things like, “Americans must be stupid. Just look at their president.”

Well, tell you what. I hate it when people say sweeping things like, “China is an evil country because it is communist. [We don’t even need to talk about Chinese people’s opinions because they’re brainwashed too.]” Not only can I put forth an argument that this political analysis is off the mark, but it really, really upsets me. It upsets me when people take this superior moral stance, quoting whatever they hear and passing judgment, without ever even trying to understand where another country is coming from.

I admit: I get defensive over China. But you know, I used to be like that too. I listened to western viewpoints regarding China because I thought they were more detached and therefore more objective. It’s like how I didn’t believe individuals were the best judges of their own character. As far as I was concerned, China’s opinions were too emotional and unreliable. This included China’s feelings about the Yakusuni Shrine. I took Japan’s position on the demand for an apology regarding WWII — China is making too big of a deal.

Until I thought how I would feel if it were any other country. Pick two names out of a hat. Two countries in any other continent. Let the war replay. Let the debate replay. I would be so angry.

Studying modern Chinese history in a British school in post-handover Hong Kong was one of my most confusing experiences ever, a confusion that still continues. It’s the art of sorting through a pile of western, anti-Chinese comments and another pile of defensive, pro-Chinese ones. Which one is right — or is the truth closer to something in between the two poles?

They shouldn’t pass judgment if they don’t even want to understand.
Am I being too defensive? What if they’re right and I’m being unreasonable?
But what if they’re not? What if I’m right and they really aren’t willing to listen?

China is not changing fast enough. / Don’t rush China so much; don’t be so harsh. It is changing and it will keep changing. Let them change slowly.
Criticism is the most effective way of changing China. / Listening, coaxing and concessions would be more effective.
Regardless of what they say, they have a terrible human rights record. So many people’s rights are being sacrificed because China is taking so long to change. / It can’t change overnight. As terrible as this sounds, as long as it is changing bit by bit, how much more can you realistically expect?
They should have democracy. / If democracy is so natural, China will eventually get there anyway. Why rush — and potentially ruin — the natural progress? And do you believe that democracy is superior because you’ve seriously analysed several different political systems and have reasons for thinking that is best, or because you just accept what you’re told?

I don’t even know what I’m asking for anymore.

Something my prof said in Anthropology yesterday made me realise that, for the first time in my life, I am paying taxes.

Which means I am paying for a war in Afghanistan, for not saving Darfur (at least, that’s what the pamphlets tell me), for this and for not that.

Not feeling quite as politically apathetic as before.

How often have you heard someone say that young people these days just aren’t the same? That we aren’t responsible or stable or persistent, or in some way or another, are not going to be able to cope with the world we are inheriting?

Sometimes I ask the same question — not why we’re so hopeless, but how we’re going to cope with the world we’re inheriting — the world our predecessors don’t know what to do with either. It’s not just us.

Let me just share with you the results of a survey I participated in some months back. It was a UK-based survey targeted towards university applicants and what they think of the future (because, after all, it is our future more than anyone else’s). And sure, it’s not representative of everyone, but I think it’s worth thinking about:

– 78% think that our lifestyles need a radical overhaul for human civilisation to survive the next 100 years or so,
– 85% think climate change will affect our lives,
– 75% think that business is a force for good, but could be doing so much more,
– 86% think that material consumption must be reduced
– 40% think that society would benefit if we cut down on air travel, but
– only 16% will avoid flying because of environmental reasons, while 82% still want to travel,
– 41% of respondents think that personal carbon quotas will benefit individuals, and 49% believe such quotas will benefit society as a whole, and
– 82% value an interesting job as important to future happiness, with recognition as a criteria attracting just under a third of respondents.

I have a copy of the survey results for anyone who is interested in looking at it.

The Anth lecture was on war and peace yesterday. The prof ended the class on the note that war, of all the human inventions in the world, is probably the stupidest one of all — that we are inventing weapons for the sole purpose of killing, weapons we can’t use because they would wipe us all out, yet we are okay with this — and called on us all to start taking responsibility for one another, to end the stupidity.

The class applauded him. It’s the first lecture we’ve ever done so, but it made me think that while we are not perfect and while we are not the energetic, amazing superheroes some people want us to be, our hearts are in the right place. It’s a start.

Movements to boycott the 2008 Olympics are leaving me miserable and torn.

I don’t condone China’s position on Darfur. I wish that the Tibetan situation didn’t have to happen in the first place (though I’m pretty sure that they picked the year on purpose). It grieves me that China does have such a poor human rights record.

Ironically, if it hadn’t been for the Olympics, I might never have grieved about this in the first place. Criticise, perhaps, but not hurt. When China won the right to host the 2008 Olympics, “We Won!” was pasted across all the TV screens and newspapers. There were massive celebrations and people were genuinely so happy and proud. Their country is finally on par enough with the rest of the western world that they can host a worldwide event. Their country is no longer the backwards, incredibly messed up, poverty-stricken place it once was. The Olympics are meant to be China’s proof of its advancement and continuing opening up. It was the first time I felt anything close to patriotism — I rather hated the place before that.

When I think of how much effort has been put into organising the event and how much people are looking forward to it, I hope with all my heart that it will go well. I don’t want 1.3 billion people to feel ashamed of how it went, 1.3 billion people who don’t have the political power to change the system and will only feel humiliated otherwise.

But then thousands of people are dying in Darfur. Humiliation is really nothing compared to death. So I do not honestly know if not boycotting the Olympics is the right thing to do; I can only say that I’m not going to and that I’m not yet convinced boycotting will help. You must decide for yourself.

At the same time, when I read that protesters turn up at the Olympic torch relay, I want to know if this happens when the US hosts the Olympics. The US doesn’t have a good human rights record either. I hope it does happen with the US too — people should protest for what they believe in, but it had better be something they believe in no matter what country is involved, otherwise this just becomes hypocritical.