Found on Silk Road International, a long article by David Dayton about rising nationalism in China and the attitude of common people toward foreigners.
Apparently, David was chocked and he says it. Here are a few excerpts, buckle-up :
I can honestly say that I have rarely if ever been mistreated in China. I don’t count the arguments over quality or the multiple times I’ve been the target of random theft. I mean, I’ve hardly ever been treated badly by my Chinese hosts in terms of politeness and acceptance.
But that changed this last week. Three separate experiences have really damaged my opinion of the depth of Chinese hospitality. First is the excoriating, racist and downright scary language that is being thrown around in China right now towards foreigners in general and the US and France in particular. From actual riots to virtual (internet) lynchings, from racial comments vocalized without knowing I can speak Chinese to outright bullying and intimidation of foreigners shopping at Carefoure. China is moving farther from its goal of “one world” than it has in more than a couple of decades.
But today is different. I’ve been saying for almost 15 years that China has national-size insecurity complex. They’ve had it for at least 30 years (if not 100 years), but now you see it daily. They want to be welcomed onto the world stage as a player, but can’t handle the heat from the spotlight. They want the world to think that they have arrived, but expect a free pass for their xenophobic view of domestic and world history. They have the glass and metal buildings and freeways and factories, but except for cheap labor, what inside is really “Chinese?” As one client of mine, who recently came to China, asked: “What do the Chinese believe in other than money?” Well the superiority of (presently constituted) China and the Chinese race, for one.
China claims that it’s not their fault they have a bad attitude; that the world has hated and abused China for the last 100+ years and the world is now scared of the rise of China. I say bullshit to both. Sure China was colonized, what country other than England was not?! Africa has a much worse history of colonialism and abuse by the West (and now by China) than does China, but the rampant racism and love-it-or-leave-it attitude doesn’t exist there.
The arguments by Chinese to support their racism are not only conflicting but weak. They claim that Westerns don’t understand China, and at the same time claim that the West is trying to split China because we know that all Chinese dynasties split from within rather than fell from without. They claim that the West doesn’t want a powerful China, yet the financial grow (FDI) has, up until the last few years ALL come from either the west or other Asian Democracies.
Now back down to a personal and business level. First, I am acutely aware that I am a minority in China. Maybe I stand out as a target, but I also get some special treatment because of my different looks (and presumed higher economic status). This means that most Chinese are fantastic hosts and overly polite. It also means that my prices are higher than local would be charged for almost everything in China that is not scanned at a register—and yes, I was here when they still had official “foreign” pricing so I know its relatively better but the attitude is still pervasive.
Secondly, recently, being a foreigner has been, to be honest, at bit scary. Crime against foreigners is high. Anti foreign sentiment is rising fast. Now in China I’m not even a “normal” person (of course not special), now I’m “bad” and I’m “them” and sometimes I even get called “French.”
So why scary now? Because the government may not be able to or willing to control it as the hype for the 0lympics draws near—how do you shut down nationalism in the next 100 days as the 8 year hype of the 0lympics finally crescendos? And instead of shutting it down (and some chats are closed, I realize) they are instead telling Chinese to just not talk with or share “sensitive” information with foreigners—yes, the new official line is to “exclude” anyone that is not Chinese from conversations about real issues. Or just don’t giv them visa’s any more. Welcome (some of you) to China, please shut up, spend your money and then go home as quickly as possible. Nice.
Drawing a line in the sand and saying that “all foreigners are untrustworthy” is a scary position for a government to take—especially when that government has for 50 years also promoted the idea of Chinese racial/national superiority. (At least the US government abuses everyone, citizens and non, equally in our post 9/11 fear of foreigners.) If you don’t think that this is a big deal, look at the crowds supporting the torch relay in Australia, New Zealand or South Korea—do you see anyone supporting the torch that is not Chinese? NONE.
I shared with is a long-time China hand and lawyer friend of mine here in China and he said: “as I tell people who only see the soft side of China, do not be fooled. This is an authoritarian state. It will get less authoritarian only when the citizens insist on something different. It has nothing to do with being a world power and it has nothing to do with us foreign guests.”
if you don’t think that events unfolding now will affect your business in China, then you are not fully aware of who you’re working with in China.
Yup, David was clearly upset… Read the full article here.