Spring is here!

Believe it or not, but exactly one week after spring festival the temperature suddenly jumped from 5C to over 20C! Today we even reached 25 degrees. Nobody seems to believe this is going to last though, most people are still walking around in their winter coats. And of course, my neighbors now keep the hallway windows shut tight... wouldn't want to let any of that warm air in, would we now?

The German weekly DIE ZEIT is concerning itself a lot with China lately. And contributes a lot of different angles on Chinese society. Maybe the best proof that China is finally being perceived as a multi-faceted society, at least in Germany. They published an interview with the Chinese writer and intellectual Li Er. And because I had nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon, I translated the most interesting parts, with apologies to the ZEIT (you guys should really take up learning German!)

"Li Er is one of the most famous Chinese writers and intellectuals. He achieved international recognition as a novelist with The pomegranate tree which bears cherries, which deals with the chaotic conditions in the countryside. His latest book, which deals with the Sino-Japanese War of 1937 to 1945, was published last fall in German under the title of Koloratur.

ZEIT: The mood in China is a nationalistic one, why?

Li Er: Nationalism has not increased. It continues to be just one of several schools of thought. But nationalism has been perceived more clearly in the last a few months, both in China and the West.

ZEIT: Why has it been more clearly perceived?

Li: The West has come to see China more as a competitor, and the Chinese are more sensitive to issues relating to their role, their recognition in the world.

ZEIT: But isn't this new nationalism fanned by the Chinese state media? A few days ago, for example, the popular Chinese television commentator Lang Xianping has asserted that the West would put pressure on China because China consumes too many minerals due to its economic success.

Li: The government is giving Lang more freedom to channel the mood. On the one hand, they believe self-confidence and pride in one's own country stabilizes the nation. On the other hand the government is trying to control the fermenting nationalistic sentiments in the country by contrasting them with more moderate nationalist stalwart figures like Lang. The Government is concerned that a proliferation of nationalism could destabilize the economic development of the country.

ZEIT: Doesn't that mean they are playing with fire?

Li: Nationalism is certainly "highly flammable" in China. This could be witnessed in 2008, when the Chinese suddenly began to protest against France (in response to French protests against China's policy on Tibet during the Olympic torch runs editor's note) by boycotting French supermarkets (Carrefour translator's note). The government had trouble getting the uproar under control. But as I said, nationalism is just one of many trends in China. And in the west one should not forget that there are powerful interest groups who do not want it to become rampant.

ZEIT: Who would that be?

Li: All those involved with economic development. They do not want to unnecessarily upset the West, to whom they sell products and from whom they receive technology.

ZEIT: What bothers the nationalists about the west?

Li: That the west does not understand Chinese tradition. There is a consensus in Chinese society that economic prosperity has to come first and only then can civil liberties be expanded. China needs stability in order for more people to benefit from the economic prosperity. Many people in the West are simply too impatient with China.

ZEIT: Does that mean we have to accept that Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to eleven years in prison?

Li: No, you do not have to. But that does not mean that I necessarily agree with his views. He did not play an important role in China. In view of such incidents, many people in the West do not want to understand the position of the Chinese government: it is of the opinion that taking steps towards freedom too fast threatens the stability of the country. This puts the already achieved goals at stake, and we should not risk that."

And the defense speech of aforementioned Liu Xiaobo (who, note, "did not play an important role in China") can be found here (in excerpts, German only).

I won't bother translating, I am sure you can find it somewhere online. In short, he is not bitter, he thinks China has already come a long way and he hopes to be the last intellectual to be imprisoned for speaking his mind. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it is terrible that he was sentenced to ten (or eleven?) years in prison, but I find the interview with Li Er more interesting, because it describes the mood as I perceive it from people I talk to. I do not think they defend their government because they are afraid or brain-washed (my students tell me all the time that everyone knows how to access blocked internet sites - like the people in Iran do). It is partly because they think the overall situation is improving, so not everything the government does can be wrong (compare this to the German attitude to complain about a government even when it does a lot of things right - the downside of perfectionism), and partly because they see the western criticism of the Chinese government as a criticism of the Chinese people. So, it's also a matter of pride.

To round things up, here is another article about young Chinese - filmmakers in this case. It portraits the cellphone/ipod spoiled one-child generation who does not really care about politics but starts to care about their roots, i.e. their (grand)parent's generation (or so the conclusion of the article). [in German]

And just as I was wondering where you could find a similarly balanced coverage in the English media, B. pointed me to this blog by Beijing-based journalist Evan Osnos, working for the New Yorker. Being a journalist and having spent many years in China, he has of course much more insight and access to information than me. Slightly disheartened by this reality check, I am the first to admit that my little blog lacks in style and depth, but after all, it was never meant to be more than just "letters to friends."