I had an interesting "conversation" yesterday afternoon with an Australian colleague at the cram school where I teach. Let's refer to him as "Ivan", because that's his name. Ivan, among other things, believes that the Republic of China 中華民国 is not a sovereign nation (despite the fact that most countries accept the validity of R.O.C. passports and the existence of representative offices, even while denying diplomatic recognition); that Taiwan is a province of China that will soon be returned to the motherland (after all, virtually everyone here is "Han Chinese" 漢民族, as if it were some kind of homogeneous ethnic grouping); that it is alright for the Chinese to station over 1000 missiles at Taiwan, because after all the Americans and Russians have missiles pointed at each other (Ivan frequently lapsed into the same old tired anti-American, and to a lesser extent, anti-Israeli rantings that serve as irrelevant "justifications" for those who are unable to find logical reasons for their positions on issues); that China's control over Tibet and Xinjiang is justified because the Tibetans and Muslims (Uyghurs) are now minorities in their own homelands thanks to Chinese immigration (destruction and/or dilution of other cultures is apparently not a problem); and that the Kuomintang 中国国民党 were not outside invaders suppressing the Taiwanese because Lien Chan's 連戦 family was from Taiwan, but he grew up in China in order to escape Japanese colonization, and besides, the 228 Incident and the White Terror "happened a long time ago". Basically, Ivan was saying (though I don't think he realized it) that my daughter should be growing up in a police state, but I feel I did a good job of keeping my anger in check.
All this got me to wondering what makes someone like Ivan tick. If he were ethnically Chinese, I could understand the attraction a Greater China might have (I've been known to harbor a secret admiration for the British Empire from time to time), a vindication of one's ancestors and all that they accomplished. But therein lies the rub, for Ivan (like myself) is as white as they come. So what is it that turns some people who I assume were taught right from wrong by their parents (and Ivan is an affable bloke) into amoral アホ's when it comes to certain topics? Could it be Sinophilia, for Ivan, by all appearances, is a Sinophile. His wife comes from China (the lack of family ties to Taiwan could be one reason why he is so willing to damn 23 million people to their fate without letting them have a say in the matter), he speaks Mandarin 中国官話 very well, has spent time in China (though he says he has been in Taiwan for nearly a decade) and talks about reading websites from the mainland. Is there something about having a strong interest in things Chinese that can skew one's moral compass? Is it the supposed 5000 years of history? The difficulties in mastering the language? The admittedly magnificent legacy to found in the arts? A New Age attraction to feng shui 風水 and Taoism 道教? A keen interest in busting heads from watching too many kung fu movies? Or simply a case of the dreaded "yellow fever"? Having never developed more than a passing interest in Chinese culture (I did take a class on Chinese history in college - "5000 years in 10 weeks!" - and have read "Dream of the Red Chamber" 紅楼夢 and "Wild Swans"), I'm having trouble trying to understand why an otherwise level-headed person would seemingly think it's perfectly OK for the Chinese government to try to reestablish the borders of the 17th-century Manchu 満州民族 empire.
Perhaps Ivan is an aberration, like those Japanophiliac Westerners employed by the Institute of Cetacean Research 日本鯨類研究所 in Japan, which believes that white mouthpieces do a better job than native ones of trying to persuade the Western world that there is nothing wrong in letting the Japanese slaughter whales to the point of extinction.
Or is Ivan one of those lovable cranks who seem perfectly normal until they start talking about how the Jews are behind everything?
Whatever the reason(s), I'm going to have to try my best to make sure Amber develops a solid moral foundation while growing up. And that in addition to avoiding pedophiles, she might want to keep her distance from Sinophiles as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment