From what I have observed, President Obama’s message inspired the Chinese youths too. However, I think they were perhaps disappointed by what actually transpired during his presidency in terms of America’s relationship with China: the pivot / rebalance of American military and diplomacy to Asia, the Trans-Pacific Partnership that excluded China. I recognize the challenge President Obama faced—the Chinese government had blocked him from speaking directly to the Chinese people—and while his good intentions may appeal to the ordinary Chinese people, they don’t carry the same sway with the Chinese government. I understand the desire to contain that same government, but I recognize it means containing the aspirations of the Chinese people too. I think the US, as powerful as it is, overestimates its ability to hold back a nation, and in turn, its people. As we have seen in Afghanistan, Iran, and in other nations time and time again, transformation needs to take place internally, and it’s often necessarily slower than we would like, but the US can show the way by setting good examples. And while I understand the hesitancy, the mistrust toward the Chinese Communist government, let’s give credit to the same government that has lifted 800 million people out of poverty.
I would love to see China becoming more free, more respectful of individual rights, learning from the US’s brightest spots (would also love for the US to do the same from China), and I don’t believe such changes can’t coexist with the current Communist Party. I personally am optimistic that those changes are inevitable as Chinese society progresses, that it would be in the interest of the Communist Party to adapt. I hope the CCP will reach the same conclusion rather than run counter to human nature and raise conflicts between the government and the people it represents. But I’m also not in a rush. I understand the importance of stability—the need for gradual changes starting with the continual improvement of education that encourages individual judgment—and the distinctiveness of China’s culture and history that will shape its own path.
But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me instead bring it back to 2008, to the night of the election, when the electoral map had turned blue like a tidal wave, the flipping of states that hadn’t voted Democrats in decades. As President-elect Obama gave his victory speech—the iconic “yes we can” journey validated through the test of time—hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Chicago Grant Park, proud and hopeful witnesses that an ethnic minority has been elected president of the United States for the very first time. I thought I recognized the emotions on their faces, the same emotions I felt that night and a few months ago, and the same emotions I had seen on the faces of the Beijing Olympics crowd thousands of miles away. It felt like we had achieved the collective redemption that Obama had written about. It felt like progress.
Posted by not_zero_sum
3 Comments
Written with nostalgia and 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.
Idk. Reading Sinophone parts of the internet does not make me optimistic. Many Chinese people believe that democracy is Western plot to weaken China and cling to CCP out of nationalism. The liberal Chinese are supposedly “self-hating Chinese”, funny how the same rhetoric is used by nationalists all across the globe – same thing here in Poland where liberals are merely “Polish-speaking population”, because how dare you care about things other than loyalty to the tribe, and don’t want the government to walk all over you.
Alas, this rhetoric is just too powerful. Also, the democratic governments… Uhhh, they don’t exactly look good rn.
> The pivot / rebalance of American military and diplomacy to Asia, the Trans-Pacific Partnership that excluded China.
Why would it not exclude China??? That was the whole point of it! As for the pivot defending allies from Chinese aggression and preventing Taiwan from being invaded are very honorable things.
> And while I understand the hesitancy, the mistrust toward the Chinese Communist government, let’s give credit to the same government that has lifted 800 million people out of poverty.
“you don’t actually have to hand it to the communists”