China is Poisoning its Youth
2003 riots in the Chinese city of Xian
In late November, university students in Xi’an, China set off two days of rioting over a skit performed by some overseas students from Japan. The Japanese students danced and wore lingerie that was sure to disturb the strict Chinese morals. Seeing this story in the news made me think of the university students I had taught when my wife and I lived in Xian only a few months ago. While there, I became convinced that the communist government was directly responsible for the students intolerant views of the world, and that it would eventually be the governments undoing
Hatred for the Japanese has simmered since WWII. While many of the university students I taught insisted that China was first and foremost a peace-loving nation, they also said that if there were to be a WWIII it would be between China and Japan. Most Chinese love Germany because of its attempts to atone for its war crimes. Unlike Germany though, Japan has brushed over its bloody history, and the Chinese, who have whitewashed so much of their own history, have not been able to forgive them.
The Communist government does very little for the people any more; there are virtually no free public services in China, and yet the government continues to demand more from its citizens. Many of my students had parents who were required to retire in their mid-forties in order to make way for other qualified workers. Several students, when asked whether they had seen a parade, recounted stories of elderly workers marching in the street after being laid off from their state-owned factories.
At the same time, people are controlled by fear. During the SARS outbreak, many of our friends voluntarily quarantined themselves so they wouldn’t be blamed for putting their apartment, school or work place at risk of contracting the disease.
One of the few things people still like about the government is the nationalistic pride it encourages, mainly through the state-run media. During the recent Iraq war, my students were convinced that Saddam Hussein was fighting for his religious freedom. Before going to Tibet, my wife and I were warned that the Dalai Lama was an evil man bent on destroying China. When China launched its first astronaut, most of my students felt that their government was finally fulfilling a long held promise to join the United States as a dominant world power.
Rhetoric promising to return Taiwan to the “motherland” is much the same. If Taiwan’s president succeeds in declaring Taiwan a separate nation, a lot of Chinese would feel that their nation, and therefore the communist party, had lost face. In light of the recent Xian riots, you can start to see why the police would allow a rare bout of violence as long as it was done in the name of defending China’s honor.
Over two years ago, the Iranian national football team lost in the World Cup Qualifiers to Bahrain. That night, students rioted in Tehran and the situation quickly got out of hand. Although the riots started with anger at the team’s loss, it continued and got out of control because soccer rioting is the only type of rioting that’s even remotely acceptable in Iran. China, like Iran, has limits on the displeasure its citizens can express. Was there an element of this pent up frustration in the Xian riots?
China is increasingly opening up to foreign investment and this will only continue as WTO membership forces uncompetitive state-owned enterprises to compete with foreign firms. In China’s eastern cities, like Shanghai and Beijing, you see foreign business people mingling with Chinese culture every day. Inland cities like Xian are not as well integrated though, and they will be further left behind by the success of the east coast if they cannot come to terms with foreigners.
While teaching, I tried to focus from time to time on international news and ideas, but found that most of my students were close-minded and poorly educated on foreign cultures, even though they spend long hours in school. I felt that their reluctance to look fairly at other nations came from the students’ fear of exposing their own country to the same criticism.
The Chinese government is addicted to the popularity it is winning with its nationalist rhetoric, and it is this very addiction that threatens to keep China behind the rest of the world. China is increasingly looking outward to meet its growing needs for resources and trading partners, and it cannot afford to alienate potentially important countries like Japan. It would be far better for China in the long run if it used the state-run media and education system to portray other nations fairly instead of slandering them. In doing so, China would prepare its people for a more international future and avoid violent incidents like the riots last week in Xian.
