The Arrogance with Chinese Stupidity -- China’s Loyal Youth

-- Micky's humble opinion: from author's words: "Educated young Chinese
are therefore the biggest beneficiaries of policies that have brought
China more peace and prosperity than at any time in the past thousand
years", it is obvious reporters from the western media can also easily
buy into the propaganda of the Chinese government. Even in the early
1900's, Chinese elite from well to do familys had enjoyed a living
standard far above the world average. There were many cases of Chinese
young men from rich family went to study abroad, had brought back brides
of western beauties in the late 1800's and early 1900's. How many well
known western beauty queens have married into new riches in China today? --

April 13, 2008

Op-Ed Contributor

China’s Loyal Youth

By MATTHEW FORNEY

Beijing

MANY sympathetic Westerners view Chinese society along the lines of what
they saw in the waning days of the Soviet Union: a repressive government
backed by old hard-liners losing its grip to a new generation of
well-educated, liberal-leaning sophisticates. As pleasant as this
outlook may be, it’s nai"ve. Educated young Chinese, far from being
embarrassed or upset by their government’s human-rights record, rank
among the most patriotic, establishment-supporting people you’ll meet.

As is clear to anyone who lives here, most young ethnic Chinese strongly
support their government’s suppression of the recent Tibetan uprising.
One Chinese friend who has a degree from a European university described
the conflict to me as “a clash between the commercial world and an old
aboriginal society.” She even praised her government for treating
Tibetans better than New World settlers treated Native Americans.

It’s a rare person in China who considers the desires of the Tibetans
themselves. “Young Chinese have no sympathy for Tibet,” a Beijing
human-rights lawyer named Teng Biao told me. Mr. Teng ― a Han Chinese
who has offered to defend Tibetan monks caught up in police dragnets ―
feels very alone these days. Most people in their 20s, he says, “believe
the Dalai Lama is trying to split China.”

Educated young people are usually the best positioned in society to
bridge cultures, so it’s important to examine the thinking of those in
China. The most striking thing is that, almost without exception, they
feel rightfully proud of their country’s accomplishments in the three
decades since economic reforms began. And their pride and patriotism
often find expression in an unquestioning support of their government,
especially regarding Tibet.

The most obvious explanation for this is the education system, which can
accurately be described as indoctrination. Textbooks dwell on China’s
humiliations at the hands of foreign powers in the 19th century as if
they took place yesterday, yet skim over the Cultural Revolution of the
1960s and ’70s as if it were ancient history. Students learn the neat
calculation that Chairman Mao’s tyranny was “30 percent wrong,” then the
subject is declared closed. The uprising in Tibet in the late 1950s, and
the invasion that quashed it, are discussed just long enough to lay
blame on the “Dalai clique,” a pejorative reference to the circle of
advisers around Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Then there’s life experience ― or the lack of it ― that might otherwise
help young Chinese to gain a perspective outside the government’s
viewpoint. Young urban Chinese study hard and that’s pretty much it.
Volunteer work, sports, church groups, debate teams, musical skills and
other extracurricular activities don’t factor into college admission, so
few participate. And the government’s control of society means there
aren’t many non-state-run groups to join anyway. Even the most basic
American introduction to real life ― the summer job ― rarely exists for
urban students in China.

Recent Chinese college graduates are an optimistic group. And why not?
The economy has grown at a double-digit rate for as long as they can
remember. Those who speak English are guaranteed good jobs. Their
families own homes. They’ll soon own one themselves, and probably a car
too. A cellphone, an iPod, holidays ― no problem. Small wonder the Pew
Research Center in Washington described the Chinese in 2005 as “world
leaders in optimism.”

As for political repression, few young Chinese experience it. Most are
too young to remember the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 and probably nobody
has told them stories. China doesn’t feel like a police state, and the
people young Chinese read about who do suffer injustices tend to be poor
― those who lost homes to government-linked property developers without
fair compensation or whose crops failed when state-supported factories
polluted their fields.

Educated young Chinese are therefore the biggest beneficiaries of
policies that have brought China more peace and prosperity than at any
time in the past thousand years. They can’t imagine why Tibetans would
turn up their noses at rising incomes and the promise of a more
prosperous future. The loss of a homeland just doesn’t compute as a
valid concern.

Of course, the nationalism of young Chinese may soften over time. As
college graduates enter the work force and experience their country’s
corruption and inefficiency, they often grow more critical. It is
received wisdom in China that people in their 40s are the most willing
to challenge their government, and the Tibet crisis bears out that
observation. Of the 29 ethnic-Chinese intellectuals who last month
signed a widely publicized petition urging the government to show
restraint in the crackdown, not one was under 30.

Barring major changes in China’s education system or economy, Westerners
are not going to find allies among the vast majority of Chinese on key
issues like Tibet, Darfur and the environment for some time. If the
debate over Tibet turns this summer’s contests in Beijing into the Human
Rights Games, as seems inevitable, Western ticket-holders expecting to
find Chinese angry at their government will instead find Chinese angry
at them.

Matthew Forney, a former Beijing bureau chief for Time, is writing a
book about raising his family in China.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company