The Perfect Storm
Fan, meet shit. Shit, this is fan.
Protesters angry about China’s human rights record and its recent actions in Tibet scuffled with police and made attempts to grab the Olympic torch and douse it with a fire extinguisher Sunday.
Hundreds of police officers guarded the 31-mile relay and flanked torchbearers in an effort to limit disruptions by pro-Tibet campaigners. At least 35 people have been arrested for public disorder offenses, the Metropolitan Police said.
The other day, in this post, I wrote, “I’d like to give a warm and healthy FUCK YOU to anyone who plans on attending the Olympics. Thanks for nothing. After you leave, those of us who live here are going to have to deal with the mess you create.” This is exactly what I’m talking about.
You really have to understand the way the Chinese view the world, and it’s difficult to describe. The Chinese are raised from birth to believe that they are the world’s preeminent race and culture. They are, without lying, the most racist people on the planet. (I’ve heard the same said about the Japanese, and their actions in the last century attest to that.) Even the Chinese who sincerely like you and respect you ultimately view you as inferior because you’re not Chinese. There’s a reason that the name of this country is Zhongguo, which means “Middle Kingdom.” The Chinese view themselves as being halfway between heaven and earth, meaning that they are superior to everyone else on the planet.
As more and more foreigners come into this country there are tensions building up between many Chinese and the lao wei. Look at it from their point of view. These inferior people waltz into their country. We make many orders of magnitude more money than they do, even if we’re doing the same job. There are countless females here who only date foreigners, and because of the One Child policy there is a shortage of females already. So among young males especially there are a lot of pissed off Chinese. And with China’s concept of “face,” this cultural emasculation is viewed by many here as a great loss of face for the people as a whole.
Now comes the Olympics. There is not a doubt in my mind that there will be protests by foreigners. Activists will know that with the eyes of the world on this city the government will really only be able to do so much to keep a lid on things. The only feasible option is rapid deportation for foreign troublemakers. It’s inevitable that this was going to happen, and I’m sure that both the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese government are aware of this. (You don’t award the games to a controversial country and expect there to be no controversy.)
What remains to be seen is the extent of these protests. If it’s a bunch of dickheads with a banner, that can be handled quietly and discreetly. But what if it’s something more? What if someone, particularly one of the athletes, makes a huge show and gives China a black eye on the world stage? This is all well and good for those who don’t live here; those of us who do are going to be left holding the bag after the games are finished. How much face will China lose? That’s the question. How much resentment will this cause among the Chinese people towards the expat community? That remains to be seen.
Nobody should feel sympathy for those of us here, though. This isn’t a sob story. Just like with the games, you can’t move to a controversial country and expect there to be no controversy. But while the banner wavers are shunted back to America and Europe, where they will high five each other and smugly preen over what wonderful people they are, those of us whose lives are dependent upon this country are going to be left as the objects of any lingering resentment due to loss of face.
Will any of this come to pass? I have no idea. Things might go off without a hitch. Protesters might be handled deftly and controversy averted. Or things could go really, really bad. I think one telling incident is going to be at the closing ceremony. It’s customary for the head of the IOC, who gives a speech at the end of the games, to declare them to be the “best ever,” a way of setting the bar for subsequent hosts cities. When the games were held in Atlanta a few years back there was the Olympic Park bombing incident, and because of this the Atlanta games were not declared the best ever. While the American public didn’t really give much of a shit about it, for those in the know it was quite an embarrassment. We already see that many foreign heads of state are considering boycotting the opening ceremony, which would be a big black eye in and of itself. If this indeed transpires, and the games are subsequently not deemed to be the best ever, the entire Olympic experience could be a massive loss of face for not only the Chinese government but the Chinese people.
I know that the activists will think that they’re only protesting the government, and that they have no beef with the people, but I assure you that the Chinese people won’t see it that way. Embarrassing China may indeed have the opposite effect, causing the people to circle the wagons in the face of international scorn, thus making reform less likely to happen.
We have no way of knowing how any of this will eventually play out, but I don’t think that this issue is as cut and dried as many people outside of China will undoubtedly think it is.
