The editor of a Chinese trade magazine sipped her tea one afternoon several years ago in a Shanghai tea shop and said: “I think Taiwan should be part of China, but I don’t think it’s worth fighting over.” She went on: “But if we give up Taiwan, then Tibet will try to break away and we will have separatists among the Uighurs in western China and among the Mongols in Inner Mongolia and the Koreans in Manchuria.”
She lamented: “If we let them all go, what will happen to my country?”
Saturday 12 April 2008
The educated view from China
The internet super-soaker fight that is going on right now between those who support and oppose the Beijing olympic games may have lead many to believe that the average Chinese person is one hundred percent committed to Chinese unity and has no doubts as the righteousness of the cause. In reality I found that this kind of certainty is something that you only really find amoungst people of university-going age and of limited real-life experience, but that others are equally committed to Chinese unity but with a more nuanced outlook on the situation. This piece by regular Taipei Times columnist Richard Halloran reflects this complexity, money quote:
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3 comments:
Did she ever thought of what happened to the countries of the Tibetans, the Mongols, the Koreans, and the Uighurs ? If all she thought about is her own country, her opinion is of no value.
I agree, although no doubt she would argue that China was the country of the Tibetans, Mongols, Koreans and Uighurs. At the same time this is what the majority of educated people in China think - and it is not going to change any time soon.
1. Fear of red-planet? No fear of red-white-and-blue planet? You mean: the devil-you-know is preferable?
2. But you are half-right: absolutely right, that Educated Chinese people are now solidly united, backing the CCP.
3. So, thanks for the "help"!
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