OnPoint: Relationship Status: It's complicated
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Post WWII Japan springs immediately to mind, but no others.
Kyle,
i don't think even Japan's rise is in the same league.
sure, in 1945, the country's urban centres were reduced to ashes.
but Japan was one of the world's industrial powerhouses in the 1930s.
the population had a very high average level of education and prior to the war poverty was not a big problem. so they had to replace all their destroyed infrastructure, but the social base was in place.but China has gone from mass starvation/cultural revolution madness and a very modest industrial base to political and economic superstardom in 30 years.
i just cannot think of any parallels in such a short time frame.
China is now the world's largest holder of US government debt. -
Thanks for the insightful commentary Keith.
On the Tibet issue itself, given the virtual impossibility of getting news out of there at the moment, I'd recommend the Channel 4 documentary at the link below as essential viewing!
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/05/video-dispatches-undercover-in-tibet/
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Thanks for the insightful commentary Keith.
On the Tibet issue itself, given the virtual impossibility of getting news out of there at the moment, I'd recommend the Channel 4 doco at the link below as essential viewing!
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/05/video-dispatches-undercover-in-tibet/
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Thanks Keith,
I was surprised to read in your blog that you felt it necessary to write that Chinese nationalism exists. I can't see how someone could think it doesn't exist unless their so blinded by their own preferred worldview they keep walking into their own reflections.
I also found of interest Yang Jianli's WaPo column and think that, using his terminology, what we're seeing is popular nationalism rather than conspiratorial government or vested interest in repressive tactics. The coverage at least seemed to emphasis the student-age attendees.
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I was surprised to read in your blog that you felt it necessary to write that Chinese nationalism exists. I can't see how someone could think it doesn't exist unless their so blinded by their own preferred worldview they keep walking into their own reflections.
you might be right, but not all of us know china very well at all, and the mainstream media don't help. i thought keith's blog was a timely insight into what's happening in our NZ chinese community,
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Just briefly, I'd like to consider the different tack taken in Autonomous Inner Mongolia. Rather than try to Han-norm the place, the Chinese seem to have deliberately played to the Mongolian identity, paying for the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan
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Just briefly, I'd like to consider the different tack taken in Autonomous Inner Mongolia. Rather than try to Han-norm the place, the Chinese seem to have deliberately played to the Mongolian identity, paying for the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan
Yes I was wondering about that too. But I see that 80% of the population is Han Chinese with only 17% Mongol so maybe that explains it. There is no longer an ethnic majority to suppress?
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With reference to Inner Mongolia, I know very little about the history there. However, I think a few factors may be at work.
- Chinese like to claim Mongol achievements as their own. The Mongol Yuan were a powerful dynasty that controlled a large territory, and despite not really being Chinese they are seen by many Chinese as one of the high-points of 'Chinese history'. Under the Yuan China subjugated Korea and made an attempt on Japan. The Mongols also briefly controlled an empire stretching all the way to Europe. In contrast, the Manchurian Qing Dynasty gets pilloried as the 'weak Dynasty' that made concessions to foreigners. The Yuan having occurred some time ago also makes it easier to forget they were foreign invaders. I think this means Chinese and Mongol interests are easily aligned when it comes to commemorating history. Tons of opportunity for mutual back scratching.
- China has to consider the existence of the huge 'outer Mongolia' on its doorstep. It probably makes more sense to let the Mongol minority within China be 'happy Mongolians' then risk pissing them off and getting ideas of separatism.
- Mongolia is the one part of the Qing Empire that the PRC gave away (letting Outer Mongolia become a soviet satellite state). Given that the majority of Mongolian territory has already been signed away by them, they might as well play nicely with the little bit that remains.
Mongolians within the PRC seem reasonably well assimilated. Outer Mongolians are a different story and appear to hate the Chinese.
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Thanks for all this Seamus. I hope Russell is putting a little bit of the translation work your way?
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Translating English political articles into Chinese? That is way beyond my level. It is a job for a native speaker of Chinese.
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The question of how you manage the autonomy of a group (Tibetans) within a larger functional group (China) seems to be the nub of the problem. The idea that Tibetans should become Chinese at the cost of being Tibetans is difficult and unrealistic. This seems to be the point that the Dalai Lama addresses. China is unlikely to relinquish Tibet (and we can debate the historical and ideological context at length), but it should be possible for Tibet to retain its cultural identity (or identities) without threatening the idea of a Greater China. However, the Chinese Government does not seem to accept this possibility and tries to conflate the two concepts.
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