Views from India: China syndrome

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China syndrome
24 Jun, 2007 l 0039 hrs ISTlShobhaa De

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Ten days after coming back from China, I'm still reeling. And slightly
jealous. No matter what anyone tells you ― size does matter. Let's stop
fooling ourselves ― as of now, the Chinese Dragon is bigger, better and
smarter than the Indian Tiger. If we don't wake up and smell the
ginseng, we are in trouble. The road to Mt Everest is symbolic of the
present government's soaring ambition. China will stop at nothing to
prove a point to the watching world as a run-up to the Beijing Olympics
in 2008. And we won't need fortune cookies to tell us what China has in
mind outside the sports arena. Simply put: China is all set to dominate
the world. It is a one point programme that will stop at nothing to wow
critics and prove who's boss.

The new aggressive mood is most evident in Beijing, which is bursting
with frenzied building activity that literally takes one's breath away ―
a thick pollution haze hangs over the city, completely obscuring the
sky. Nobody minds. It's all for a good cause. Entire streets have been
razed, thousands of citizens dislodged to make way for stadia, hotels,
pools, bridges, underpasses. Over 30 super-luxury hotels now dot the
sprawling city of 20 million with not a beggar in sight. Food is
unbelievably cheap ― a large bowl of fried rice sells for Rs 10 at a
good restaurant. Contrasts abound. The priciest brands from Europe have
set up shop and can't keep up with the demand. If anybody is
complaining, you certainly don't hear it. Young girls stroll
nonchalantly in the infamous Tiananmen Square wearing T-shirts that
declare cheekily: 'Let's go out tonight and get laid'. The cops look the
other way.

That is a Chinese speciality. Everybody is trained to look the other
way. Locals insist the massacre at Tiananmen Square never happened. It's
all a part of Western propaganda. With zero access to the real world and
a tightly controlled media that stresses on personal sacrifice,
discipline, progress, the young don't know they're supposed to be
rebellious and restless like their counterparts everywhere else in the
free world. Officially, Mao is still worshipped, even if the first
victims of the Cultural Revolution are totally marginalised in today's
impatient China, which doesn't know what to do with them or how to deal
with the embarrassment. While the incongruity of a Christina Aguilera
concert in the Chinese capital is not lost on cynical expats who laugh
at such cultural absurdities, young Chinese go about their slightly
schizophrenic existence in a state of denial. Said a Belgian businessman
who has made Beijing his home, "Nobody wants to confront the truth. The
young don't want to deal with communism... there is much confusion about
values."

There is caution in the air, too, and Big Brother is definitely watching
(he needs eyes and ears everywhere to track over 1.3 billion Chinese).
Despite that, one is pleasantly surprised to see familiar symbols of
greed and ostentation as Prada and Gucci billboards compete with Nicole
Kidman peddling a luxury watch. Huge hoardings announce the staging of a
Chinese Romeo and Juliet musical extravaganza, while at my own book
reading in Beijing, there is a hint of nervousness, but no attempt to
censor. Sure, Beijing is bizarre and contradictory (the doorman of our
hotel is a turbaned Mumbaiwalla called Ismail!). But come the Olympics
in 2008, the Dragon will prove to the world that scale equals power.

Do we need to worry? Well, over a civilised lunch with our 'Singing
Ambassador', the very capable and calm Nirupama Rao, this was our
Chinese takeaway from the trip: Said the lady wisely, "Let's face it. We
can't march to Beijing and they can't march to Delhi... the bottomline
is patience." Confuscious couldn't have stated it better!

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