Are Overseas Chinese More Patriotic?

Last Sunday, May 4^th, two counterpoint Chinese activities occurred, one in New York, involving an estimated ten-thousand people, and another in Boston, conducted by one man. The media had counter-counterpoint reactions to these two events: a total silence on the former and enthusiasm, albeit to limited market, on the latter.

I was out of town in Vermont and did not know about the New York Chinese rally until a friend emailed me a video clip two days later. I couldn't believe that there hadn't been any media coverage. I have a daily email subscription to New York Times' "Today's Headlines," and also Salon's news coverage. In addition, despite CNN's biased reputation, it is the easiest venue for current news and I check its website several times a day.

According to a Chinese post on mitbbs.org, the New York Times did send reporters but apparently chose not to publish any report. That the NY Times would smother news on such a huge event in its backyard is oddly surprising. The vast silence from all the US media is simply bizarre. It makes one suspect a sanction or conspiracy. A familiar uneasiness crept through my nerves as I researched this: Am I living in America or China?

The main body of the pro-Olympics rally was overseas Chinese students, but there were also people from all walks of life, including some Americans. Thousands of people shouting "We love China, more than ever!" and singing China's national anthem, "Rise, rise, …use our blood and flesh to build our new Great Wall" can really be blood boiling. Even as I watched the video I felt a slight urge to open my mouth and follow the chorus – what a familiar song can do to you. The friend who sent me the video clip, a high-tech professional in his early fifties, reflected on his participation: "I come to show my support. I just feel I am back to my student time in Chengdu and that is a great feeling."

Nationalism is a strange thing – it is more an emotion than rational thought. I didn't even think I had it. I was a political dissident when I lived in China. In my twenties I nearly went to jail for a "contentious" story I wrote. Two decades of living in the US further opened my mind to all points of view and to otherwise unavailable historical materials. Since I began to write in English in 2002, I've always been critical – if more rationally than when I was young – of things in China. I was becoming more and more American. Once I even asked myself in a diary entry: Am I having deeper feeling toward America than toward China now?

Yet look what the media's overdone bias can do to a person like me: it unearths whatever little Chinese nationalism I'd had. This is called backfire.

Growing up during the Cultural Revolution, I'm usually suspicious of any mass activity. The excitement alone can be an irresistible magnet and rationality need not play a role. Similarly, rampant nationalism, be it American or Chinese, is a double-edged sword. It can unite a nation; it can also be divisive and make inter-cultural understanding that much more difficult. It can even lead to imperialism. In short, I have issues with nationalism. Still, even with all those misgivings, I felt strong sympathy toward the Chinese ralliers in New York. The Western media has shown too much animosity in its reporting related to China. When CNN considers it commentary of the day to describe Chinese as "goons and thugs," perhaps a bit of Chinese's nationalism is called for as a balance.

This said, it is time for the young Chinese to watch out for their overheated nationalism. Things turn to their opposites when they reach the extreme, as the adage goes.

Given this large background, I have mixed feelings toward the other, much quieter, event on the same day, at a different location: the launch of Yang Jianli's "Citizen Walk," starting from Boston and destined for Washington DC. The Boston Globe has a long, enthusiastic report on this titled "A Sense of Direction."

It is a bit ironic that, Chinese who are either pro Beijing Olympics or protesting China's government find May 4^th a meaningful date for action, and both sides claim to carry forward the spirit of the 1919 student movement that began the modern history of China. The holding of the same symbol for opposite reasons seems another example of "four blind men touching an elephant." From an objective point of view, the May 4^th movement in 1919 had both positive and negative impacts on China's development, but when people need a flag to wave they only talk about one side of it.

I learned about the "Citizen Walk" from another friend's email days before. I don't know Yang Jianli personally, but have heard about his arrest and five-year imprison in China. More than sympathy, I admire his courage and determination to protest against injustice. My concern, however, is whether his timing is right in light of the recent events.

The reason that Yang Jianli chose June 4^th as his arrival date at Washington DC is apparent. He had participated in the 1989 student movement, and June 4^th is another symbolic day. (It seems that a symbol is essential to any activist.) I don't know if he is aware of Chinese people's attitude change toward that symbol. When the Tiananmen massacre occurred, I had already moved to the US, and I remember it as the only time that all people I knew, inside or outside of China, Americans or Chinese, had a united attitude. We cried for the students. We cursed Deng Xiaoping. A decade later, when I returned to China for a visit, I was shocked to hear in private conversation that old friends and acquaintances, including participants in 1989, saying the government took the right action in suppressing the student movement. Otherwise, they argued, China wouldn't have had today's prosperity; the students were actually impeding China's economic development, something everyone wants. (Well, I disagree, but my reasons would require another long entry.) They believed that the ends justify the means, and China's economic success has proven Deng Xiaoping's vision.

On the other hand, the June 4^th's gunshots and tanks became a fixture of China's image in Western eyes. This view won't change for a long time even as China's political situation improves.

Given this, I'm not sure whose awareness Yang Jianli's walk will raise. Is it Americans or Chinese? If it's the latter, will a walk from Boston to DC achieve anything? I'm also not entirely clear why his action is titled "Citizen Walk." It is a confusing banner: citizen of what, America, China, the world?

I had planned to report Yang Jianli's walk, but wanted to clarify a few points and gain a bit more understanding. I sent an email on May 3^rd to ask the following questions, but did not receive a response.

- How do you think this walk will impact people now living in China?
- What is the distinction between "Citizen Power" and "people power" as the term used in 1960s-70s America?
- Do you think the strong nationalism among China's young generation today is going to be impediment to achieving democracy in China?
- Why do you need to connect your activity with the Tibetan monks, given that they don't even want to be citizens of China?

I will share his response if I receive it – so far it doesn't look like he will.

The quiet steps of one man echo in the media while the shouts of thousands find no ears. It is easy to impress the Western media with any anti-Chinese government activity, unfortunately that may not be an advantage if Yang Jianli wants to get his message across to the real audience – the Chinese. This is not his fault; rather the complex situation makes his mission a more challenging one. A more thoughtful approach might be called for.

To put things in perspective, let me end this entry by quoting Zhou Shuguang, a 26-year-old blogger who lives in my home city Chongqing at the moment. He is neither elite nor privileged, and he often makes good points. The following is from a post on his blog Zola.com the other day: [In translation]

"I feel overseas Chinese students are more patriotic than us. They attach more importance to their identification possibly because they are discriminated against and experiencing cultural dislocation abroad. For those of us who live domestically, we don't feel what they feel. …they at worst are bullied by a different race; we who stay in the Mainland suffer from our own."

For this reason I give my best wishes to Yang Jianli; meanwhile I hope he will take the time to mull over my questions.