But ... You're not Chinese

Stupid Ch!n3s3 Great F!r3w@ll.  Making me type stuff like this just so I don't get censored. *grumble*

Anyway.  In the United States, once you become a citizen of the United States, everyone considers you to be American.  This is your right no matter what color, race, religion, mentality or ethnicity you belong to.  Anyone calling a passport holder not American is occupying the fringes (or extremes) of American society.  People may complain about immigrants (legal and illegal) but citizens?  Not so much.

Why is this important?  Let's take the current situation in China with SinJyang (yes, I do know how to spell it correctly!).  The native Wegers (again...) are passport holders of the PRC but they are not treated like full citizens.  In Beijing, I met a lot of people who you could consider moderates or progressives who would say things like,"Well, you know they're not really Chinese."  I heard this enough that I think this could defensibly be called a mainstream view about Wegers in China.  What these people are really saying is, "These people are not Han Chinese."  Convenient way to confuse the concepts of nationality and ethnicity.

The US is fixated on finding ways to make sure that new citizens want to call themselves American.  In fact, many immigrants will start calling themselves American far before they get the passport because they want it so badly and they know that they will eventually be Americans.  China seems fixated on finding ways to let the Wegers know that they are not Chinese.  The problem is that by also teaching this to the general Han Chinese population, they've now convinced the Wegers that they will never be Chinese.

A country that keeps a significant population inside its borders from whom it witholds full citizenship has two options:

1. Kill them (e.g. Native Americans in the US) or
2. Lose the country/territory (e.g. Israel, various western colonies).

I'm not sure China has decided on a course of action but they'd better start planning...

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.

At the Beach - You Can't Even Come Here!

  Time for part 2 of the trip to the beach. You know that I had some troubles in getting a hotel room but I had it easy. Check out what happened next. Also, please note that in the interest of not getting c3ns0r3d by the gubirnment, I've changed some spellings and names. I'm not stupid, just careful.
 
2. Non-H@n Ch!nese not allowed

  Of greater concern was the following comment by some members of the group: "It's a good thing none of us are minorities." I asked what they meant but knew enough not to push the issue right away (in front of the hotel staff). However, I had already decided this would be topic of conversation at lunch.

  Turns out that if you're not a member of the majority H@n ethnic community in Ch!n@, you can't even visit this area without permission from the local government. There is nothing that special about this area. In the US, it would be equivalent to saying that only white people could visit Venice Beach without prior approval. My friends indicated that it was probably just a formality and that it wasn't really that big a deal to get the required permission.  I'm not sure that mitigates the situation.

  [Background voice]: "But, how do they know if you're H@n ch!n3se?"

  How do they know, you ask? I wondered as well. Turns out the national ID cards actually have a section that lists what ethnic minority you belong to (!).  This idea would go over like a lead balloon in the US.  There is an official list of ethnic minorities and everyone has to fit into one of these categories (I imagine you couldn't get an ID card otherwise).

  This restriction was a surprise to many of my local friends. They reasoned that perhaps some of it was because of security precautions (and you know what scoundrels those ethnic minorities can be). I'm just astonished. This indicates "levels" of citizenship based on ethnic affiliation. I know Ch!n@ has some issues related to its ethnic minorities but the fastest way to keep a people from identifying with their country is to make sure that their affiliation is used in silly manners such as this. While the US has it's own problems relating to race, it doesn't have policies so blatant about segregating people. Maybe it works here but it doesn't fit my world view.

  Even in India where you have ethnic-based rebellions (with armies and everything), people's movements weren't officially restricted by the government based on ethnicity. Heck, at one time, the Prime Minister's whole security detail was composed of people from an ethnicity that was in open rebellion.  That would be like Who ZhinDao (get it?) being protected by SinZhiang Muslims.  Granted, India's Prime Minister was eventually assassinated by her security detail but it was the thought that counted.

At the Beach - You Can't Stay Here

 Recently, I visited a seaside resort near Beijing (okay, resort is a strong word, but you get my meaning). The place was quite nice. Hotels, restaurants, beach, entertainment, almost everything you would need... almost. This is the first in a three-part series covering the events of that weekend that might be of interest. I promise, they are all quick and informative.

  I went there with 7 other local Chinese. It was one of those weekend trips where you look forward to acting silly, having fun on the beach, eating too much and generally raising hell.

Story #1:

  Standard procedure. You arrive at location and look around for hotels. Seems easy, no? At the first hotel we went to, we starting asking about rooms, etc.  Upon seeing me, the hotel staff emphatically said that foreigners weren't allowed to stay at that hotel and we had to leave. "Odd", I thought,"but oh well, we'll go somewhere else."

  We then moved to hotel #2. This hotel seemed nicer and they also started to talk about rooms and options. Upon realizing that I was with the group, they also suddenly stopped the negotiations and insisted that we would have to stay elsewhere (actually, they were insisting that I should stay elsewhere). My friends were nice enough to close ranks with me.

  Turns out that none of the hotels in this area had "licenses" allowing them to have foreigners as guests. I never realized before. Hotels in China apparently need to apply for a special license in order to accept foreign guests. The cover story is that the government is trying to ensure that an appropriate level of quality is maintained for foreigners (I have already stayed in some horrendous hotels that were more than happy to have me as a guest).

  I suspect the real reason is to fleece the hotels for the costs of another "license". Since this area doesn't currently have many (any?) foreign visitors, there's no reason to apply for the license. I don't care if the government tries to track my movements by making hotels report all foreign guests but I don't like being told that certain hotels are off-limits. Regardless, after my friends begged and swore to the management that I wouldn't cause trouble (What? Me cause trouble? Never!), they relented and allowed me to stay.

  Lesson learned: Always take a tent with you on trips in case you're forced to camp outside.

 As you'll find out in the next story, I had it easy compared to other Chinese citizens who wanted to visit the area.