Indifference and Insult

In my recent post on my activities in China, I left out one item that I wasn't comfortable posting at the time.  Here's what I really should have posted:

• I found myself defending China to people in the United States.
• I found myself defending the United States to people in China
• I discovered that no one really cares about India except as a source of good food, movies and beautiful women.

  For someone who originally thought that China and India were somewhat equal partners on the world stage, it was harsh to have China keep reminding me that this just isn't true.  Let's get a little context before I start to sound really bitter.

  Let's take the 1962 Sino-Indian War.  I don't want to get into who started it or who was at fault.  There are two sides and each side thinks that all the blame lies with the other party.  What's more an issue is that this was a really important event in Indian history.  India was caught off-guard with the Chinese strength and my mother tells me that many Indians thought that the country was finished.  The story was that the Chinese army was basically advancing almost as fast they could move and that nothing was stopping them.  Then, suddenly, the Chinese stopped and left.  It was almost as if they said,"We might as well take our toys and go home."

  I asked some Chinese friends about what they were taught about the war and they looked at me like I was crazy. "What, we fought a war with India?  No way; you must be mistaken." Finally, I found one guy who said he remembered a history textbook which mentioned the war as a minor skirmish for about one sentence (or maybe one paragraph at the very most).  What?! A paragraph ... at most??  A minor skirmish?

  The final victory for the Chinese in the war was that they got to ignore it completely while it left a giant scar in the Indian psyche.  India had been invaded and the only reason it was still a nation was because the invaders, of their own accord, just ... stopped and went home.  This experience really taught me the harsh power of indifference.  Indifference (more than hate or anger) can be one of the most insulting responses.  While I'm not saying it would better if the Chinese hated India (many of them love India), it would be nice if there had been some impact on China for all the trouble.