If my parents participated in globalization by moving to the US, I became a product of globalization as a result of their move. As a kid growing up in China, I had overheard adults banter and formed the vague impression that the US wasn’t friendly to China. Yet from their tones, I also detected an antagonistic admiration that coincidentally mirrored my own experience. As an avid young reader of all things WWII, I knew the US and China had fought in the Korean War and more vaguely that capitalism exploited the common people, but what was more relevant to me had been the transformer cartoons that transformed into my inventory of toys and the stolen sips of Sprite, the cool sweet taste that awaited me inside the green bottle behind the white magnetic door after school, while my parents were still at work—I was a recipient of American soft power (and drinks).
When I moved to the US in the summer of 1996, I gained exposure to the American side of the story. For example, other kids would remind me that China was communism while I would remind them that China was bigger in size. The trip across the Pacific also made my scope irreversibly global. While my former classmates were dealing with heavy loads of homework, pressure from Chinese junior high entrance exam, and elation or disappointment pending its result, I was navigating foreign diplomacy in the form of American diversity at Campbell Junior High.
Posted by not_zero_sum
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Disclosure: I’m the ordinary Chinese American. This post / chapter is on Ping Pong Diplomacy and immigration experience – when a couple of ping pong players unexpectedly formed a connection, it sparked the diplomatic imagination of high officials, eventually paving the way for my parents and I to immigrate to the US. It follows the same larger premises as before:
1. US-China is not zero-sum, Chinese American = living proof.
2. The US model where people from around the world come together to build a thriving society could be the model for the world (before the 2024 election anyway).
3. There’s a divergence between the self-interests of political leaders (Trump/Putin/Xi) and the aspirations of ordinary people, and the latter should have more influence on the trajectory of the world.
Look forward to discussions and feedback.