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| Zhang Lijia |
Zhang Lijia:
China’s fast-growing economy and its rising position in the world have made its people, the young people in particularly, assertive or even arrogant. They think now they run the world financially and therefore become over sensitive to any criticism. They demand the respect from the world. But I think you can’t not just summon respect. It has to be earned by your respectful behavior.
I am a mainlander. Much I am proud of what my country has achieved, I have to say that many of my fellow country men lack good manners. Professor Kong is just a colourful example. In fact, I think he violates the teaching of his ancestor because Confucius always emphasized the importance of ‘礼‘ courtesy. “The running dogs of the British”, does he think the HK people should feel ashamed of their colonial history?
Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 but maintains a Special Administration Region under the ‘one country two system’.
For better or for worse, the colonial past has bred a different kind of Chinese. English is commonly spoken and Hong Kongers have better access to the outside world and they have been enjoying, overall, a higher living standard. A recent survey shows that they identify themselves as Hong Kongers instead of Chinese.
To that end, some Hong Kongers do have a sense of superiority over the mainlanders. This sentiment is common among the Chinese in Taiwan and Singapore.
I can understand why the residents in Hong Kong displeased that their resources being taken by mainlanders, they should also bear in mind and the mainlanders have been playing an important role in their economy. After the Asia’s financial crisis, the Hong Kong’s economy was flagging. It was the mainlanders who came over in large numbers and spent big therefore revived the economy. Fling insulting terms like “locust’ isn’t the best way to show how civilized they are.
I can understand why the residents in Hong Kong displeased that their resources being taken by mainlanders, they should also bear in mind and the mainlanders have been playing an important role in their economy. After the Asia’s financial crisis, the Hong Kong’s economy was flagging. It was the mainlanders who came over in large numbers and spent big therefore revived the economy. Fling insulting terms like “locust’ isn’t the best way to show how civilized they are.More in Zhang Lijia's weblog.
Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
Zhang Lijia speaks at Storify on China's moral crisis.
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1 comment:
Many years ago while working in Canada, I was asked by my boss, whom was Canadian, a peculiar question. As we sat in a Chinese restaurant, he wanted to know how white guys can tell the difference between Hongkies and Singaporeans. I told him it was easy, the group that talks loudest are Hongkies. Thus, when Hongkies talked of loudmouth and uncouth mainlanders, they should see themselves. People whom lived in greenhouses should never throw stones. Prior to the 1997 takeover, many Hongkies migrated to Canada, Australia and Singapore for fear of Chinese repression after the takeover. That list including well known celebrities. Today most of them are back and almost all the celebrities are singing out loud how great the motherland is. You can tell by their participation in mainland Chinese TV shows and dramas. What hypocrites! Hongkies distaste of mainlanders goes all the way back to when Hong Kong was a British colony. They despised the mainlanders. However, were they not Chinese before the ceding of Hong Kong to the British after the Opium War? Formerly part of China, Hong Kong Island was occupied by Britain in 1841, during the first of the Opium Wars, and ceded by China under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. As late as 1950s more than a million Chinese, predominantly Cantonese fled from the mainland when the Communists took over. Saved for the period when Britain colonised Hong Kong, the SAR has always been part of China. What Hongkies think of now can never change the fact Hong Kong is part of China. The SAR doesn't even have an identity of its own. They speak Cantonese which is spoken in Guangdong province where their grandfathers (not ancestors) came from. They have no sovereign rights over their region. Period.
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