China should still focus on English - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

Nationalistic sentiments at the recent National People's Congress (NPC) triggered off proposals to abolish English translations on all government-related events in China. London-based author Zhang Lijia explains why that is the wrong move, and why learning English is still important, also for Chinese, at the South China Morning Post. 

Zhang Lijia:

I am all for the promotion of Chinese culture and language, but I don’t understand why it can’t go hand in hand with learning English. Yet, I am not surprised by these proposals.

Last March, a heated debate about the relevance of English erupted after Hua Qianfang, a farmer turned writer, posted on Weibo that English is useless to most Chinese people and has “cost children their childhoods”. He also described keen students of English as “self-dwarfing slaves” to Western ideology. 

I must beg to differ with Mr Hua and the two delegates...

For me, learning English has been life-changing. Born into a poor working-class family in Nanjing, I dreamt of becoming a writer. Sadly, when I turned 16, I was dragged out of school and put to work at a military factory that produced intercontinental missiles. There, I greased machine parts for a whole decade. As an escape route, I decided to teach myself English. 

It was the early ’80s. “English fever” was just heating up after China began to reform and open up. Chinese people had a thirst for learning and the country needed the skills. It was much harder to teach oneself English back then. I borrowed a radio to follow a popular programme called New Concept English...

China’s rapid rise has unnerved the West and led to fear. The Covid-19 outbreak has only

aggravated such fear. While some misgivings are justified, others are generated by ignorance. It is time for China to behave graciously and open up more channels for cultural understanding.

In today’s globalised world, a knowledge of languages is paramount in facilitating communication. One of my self-appointed missions in life is to serve as a cultural bridge between China and the outside world, in my small way, of course, explaining where China is coming from and why certain events happened. Any bicultural person can be such a bridge. We need more of them, not fewer.

More at the South China Morning Post.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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China brands tap into nationalism after NBA-conflict - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Li-Ning and Anta, two Chinese shoe sport manufacturers, took a nationalistic twist in their marketing after the US National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Houston Rockets triggered off criticism from China's government. Marketing expert Tom Doctoroff comments on the slippery slope of nationalism in China marketing for Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera:

These companies have also made efforts to tap into rising nationalism among China's youth. 

In the case of Li-Ning, the company rebranded itself and began running advertisements rooted in national pride in an effort to capitalise on political tensions with other countries, Tom Doctoroff, senior global advisor at Prophet, a global brand and marketing consultancy, told Al Jazeera. 

The controversy surrounding the US National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Houston Rockets earlier this year also provided Li-Ning's domestic competitor, Anta, with an opening to burnish its credentials as a patriotic Chinese company, says Doctoroff. 

Anta severed its relationship with the NBA after the general manager of the Rockets, Daryl Morey, tweeted a message in October supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. The tweet provoked a fierce response in mainland China, where state television stopped broadcasts of the league, multiple companies suspended or terminated cooperation and social media was flooded with criticism. 

Both Anta and Li-Ning are trying to "make inroads driven by nationalist sentiments", said Doctoroff. The Houston Rockets incident was a "shot across the bows" of the sneaker industry, the sports teams connected to it, and business in general, he said. 

"If a brand makes a hint at supporting dissolution of what China considers to be its legitimate territory, then the brand will suffer," Doctoroff noted. 

Every brand will have to grapple with balancing "freedom of expression and commitment to maintaining China sales," he said. "Most will be cautious … These are delicate times."

More at Al Jazeera.

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Patriotism not key for consumer purchases - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Quality, price, and value drive China's consumers, not patriotism, says business analyst Shaun Rein in the LA Times. They might say something patriotic, but that is not key for their purchases, although China's media might suggest nationalism is more than window-dressing.

LA Times:

“Typically, they will say something patriotic or nationalistic,” Shaun Rein, business analyst and founder of the China Market Research Group, said of the Chinese survey respondents. “But when it comes to actually buying something, they don’t care about that so much. They care more about quality, price, and value.”... 

There is a trend of rising Chinese preference for Chinese goods, Rein said, particularly in consumer electronics, where Huawei mobile phones have taken over Apple’s market share in China. But patriotism still isn’t as important as getting a good deal when it comes to consumer decisions, he said. “If the product is not comparable quality, they won’t boycott. It’s just like people still want to buy Canada Goose, because there’s nothing comparable in China,” he said, referring to the Canadian parka brand.

More in the LA Times.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Why Tuesday's crowd was different - Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson

Journalist Ian Johnson attended China's National Day celebrations in Beijing and noted - apart from the military parade and obligatory propaganda, the crowd was different from earlier celebrations. "Tuesday’s crowd was different. It was made up of university professors, scientists, administrators, bureaucrats and people who had made some sort of contribution to the state. They weren’t props but excited participants who expected to remember this day," he writes in the New York Times.

Ian Johnson:

Attending China’s National Day celebrations over the years has been a bit like listening to different takes of a song, with the composer honing the themes and jettisoning the raw bits until the piece sounds just right. 

That’s how I felt at Tuesday’s celebrations on Tiananmen Square, held to observe the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. I’ve attended two other ceremonies like this before — for the 35th anniversary in 1984 and the 50th in 1999 — and I knew the basic drill: There would be a big military parade followed by floats celebrating the government’s accomplishments. 

But this show felt bigger and brassier than either of those, as if the composer had decided to use every instrument in the orchestra and cast subtlety aside. It was slick and sleek, but also overpowering and at times bombastic. 

When I received my invitation, government officials told me that I was lucky to attend because it was such a great honor. I nodded politely but only really understood what they meant when I arrived at Tiananmen Square on Tuesday at 6 a.m. We media types were just a few hundred in a sea of loyal members of the Chinese Communist Party (C.C.P.), and for many of them it must have felt like one of the biggest events of their lives.

It would be easy to write these people off as extras. And 20 years ago, the last time I was at such an event, the people in attendance were mainly highly trained performers who held aloft placards that spelled out different messages, North Korea–style. But Tuesday’s crowd was different. It was made up of university professors, scientists, administrators, bureaucrats and people who had made some sort of contribution to the state. They weren’t props but excited participants who expected to remember this day.

More in The New York Times.

Ian Johnson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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The abyss between Hong Kong and mainland people - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

Western media too easily assume the protests in Hong Kong are supported by many mainland Chinese. Wrong, says author Zhang Lijia. There is a wide dived between mainland Chinese and Hongkongnese, and that is not only because of the media censorship in the mainland, she adds at the South China Morning Post.

Zhang Lijia:

When I travel around the world, people like to guess when I am from. “Hong Kong?” “The mainland,” I like to correct them, and add: “We are all Chinese.” 

Ethnically, we are all Chinese. But mainlanders’ reaction to the Hong Kong protests tells me that there’s a deep divide between the two – a geopolitical one. 

There’s no poll on the carefully censored topic on the mainland. From measuring the pulse on the internet and talking to friends, I sense that there’s indifference, confusion, anger, fascination, and even admiration. Overall, I would say that most are not sympathetic to the protests.

The propaganda has certainly played a role. Some have readily bought the government line that the protests are being fuelled by foreign influence – the black hands. 

A lot of ordinary Chinese simply don’t understand why millions of Hongkongers would take to the street over the extradition law. “They already enjoy a lot more freedom and rights than us. What’s the fuss?” asked my brother-in-law, a small-business owner from Nanjing. 

Interestingly, even some well-educated Chinese who have access to international reports don’t necessarily support the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. 

Nick Shen, an English tutor based in the southern city of Zhuhai, has been following the developments from the very beginning, reading reports from both domestic and international media, partly because he can see Hong Kong from the sea front, a sling shot away from his apartment. 

“These silly young people,” he said in a phone interview. 

“They are wasting their time. They are going to achieve nothing, but to destroy Hong Kong’s economy and ultimately hurt the mainland itself.” 

The problem is that mainlanders and Hongkongers have little understanding of each other since they come from drastically different places.

More at the South China Morning Post.

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. 

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How Dolce&Gabbana messed up their China operation - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Fashion brand Dolce&Gabbana got blamed for racism by its Chinese customers after using a promotional video, celebrities withdrew from a show planned for Wednesday in Shanghai and the brand withdrew its goods. The damage to the brand will be lasting, says branding expert Shaun Rein, author of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order to AP.

AP:

The Italian luxury fashion house apologized and said both accounts had been hacked. "We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China," it wrote. 

The apology was too late to save a major extravaganza in Shanghai that Dolce&Gabbana had billed as one of its biggest shows ever outside of Italy. 

Major Chinese celebrities threatened to boycott the event, which had been scheduled for Wednesday night, and the company finally called it off. Actress Zhang Ziyi, who starred in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," said that the Italian brand had "disgraced itself." An analyst said the bad publicity will have a lasting effect. 

"It's the kiss of death for Dolce&Gabbana," said Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. "I expect them to have a real tough time over the next six to 12 months." 

The three promotional videos that led to the Instagram fiasco showed a Chinese woman using chopsticks to eat pizza and other Italian food. Many in China called them racist and full of outdated stereotypes. The videos were previously deleted from the company's account on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter. 

Rein said it's a big mistake when westerners come up with creative content but don't understand how the campaigns will be received by Chinese consumers. 

He noted a trend of rising nationalism in China. "So if you, as a western brand, do anything that looks like you are mocking or making fun of Chinese culture, that's a big no-no," he said.

More at AP.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Nationalism: key feature in Xi's foreign policy - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber

Nationalism has been a double-edged sword in China's domestic policy, where the leadership mostly tried to control this natural sentiment among its citizens. But Xi Jinping is clearly taking a different direction when it comes to his foreign policy, tells economist Arthur Kroeber, author of China's Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know® to the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Rising nationalism in China will also make it hard for Beijing to change its policies. 

“If you look at some of the speeches Xi Jinping has made or plans highlighted in his presentation, he is presenting a sort of nationalist message,” said Arthur Kroeber, research head and co-founder of Gavekal Dragonomics. 

Xi told last week’s meeting of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission that leadership on foreign affairs would become more centralised in order to achieve the “Chinese dream” of national rejuvenation. 

“I think the evidence we have is that most people in China respond positively to that. They think it is very important for China to become more powerful and more independent and that if the US is trying to restrain China, then it is good for China to fight back,” Kroeber said... 

Washington’s seven-year ban on selling US components to Chinese telecoms firms ZTE over sales of its equipment to Iran – which Trump has since said he will revisit – has fuelled debate in China about its heavy reliance on chips imported from America. After the ZTE penalties were announced, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily called for China to develop its own hi-tech industries, invoking Beijing’s drive to develop its nuclear and space programmes in the 1960s. 

“I think both in terms of a disciplined policy system and in terms of the power of nationalist message to a broader audience, they are important tools for Xi Jinping in constructing his response to the US,” Kroeber said.

More in the South China Morning Post.

Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Mixed chances for a political backlash against US companies - Ben Cavender

Ben Cavender

The trade war between China and the US is heating up, raising fears for a political backlash against US firms in China. Business analyst Ben Cavender feels it will vary very much according to the position of companies in China, he tells Reuters.

Reuters:

The highest profile corporate casualty was South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group, which saw its plans for mega shopping complexes indefinitely suspended and nearly all of its Lotte Mart stores in China shut for much of the year over alleged fire safety issues. Ben Cavender, an analyst at Shanghai-based China Market Research Group, said U.S. businesses in China such as Starbucks were more firmly entrenched in the country, making them less likely to receive similar treatment. 

“A lot of the brands are employing Chinese workers, essentially they’re Chinese companies in their own right,” he said. However, he warned that everyday consumption goods could nonetheless be hit. “You can see consumers saying we’re not going to buy a Ford , or a GM product, and we’re going to buy a European product or a Chinese product instead,” he said.

More in Reuters.

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Why we should not worry about Chinese nationalism - Kaiser Kuo

Kaiser Kuo

Sometime vehement explosions of nationalism have worried both the outside world, and the Chinese government. But today, nationalism is in decline, notes China-watcher Kaiser Kuo in SupChina. "I’m coming around to the view that we’ve exaggerated its proportions and the dangers it poses."

Kaiser Kuo:

But the appeal of nationalism in China appears to be dwindling. A recent paper by Alastair Iain Johnston of Harvard University, examining survey data measuring nationalist attitudes in the Beijing area over a period of 13 years from 2002 to 2015, suggests that at least in the vicinity of the capital, nationalism is indeed in decline. Johnston, aware that Beijing is not necessarily representative, notes that his findings nevertheless accord with nationwide surveys measuring those attitudes. 

The rising nationalisms of our times — and Trump’s “America First” approach in particular — may even have the ironic effect of diminishing nationalism’s appeal in China still further: Xi Jinping has, after all, stepped (even if opportunistically) into the role of standard bearer for globalization. His unapologetically globalist Davos speech played well at home. And if nationalism has an opposite number today, it is globalism... 

The specter of Chinese nationalism is invoked with some frequency by those who would douse the ardor for multiparty democracy. It’s invoked in this way, indeed, by many a liberal. It’s a twist of course on the familiar sùzhì 素质 argument — that the unwashed Chinese masses just aren’t ready for democracy. In this telling, the problem is that freed of its fetters, nationalism would run the table: “If we had free elections in China tomorrow,” said one liberal Chinese friend of mine, “we would elect Hitler next Tuesday and be at war with Japan by Friday.” The message is “Careful what you wish for.” In this view, some gratitude is perhaps due to an illiberal Party that serves as a bulwark against a nationalism that would be more illiberal still. 

The jury is out on what would actually happen were that bulwark to be dismantled, but I’m coming around to the view that we’ve exaggerated its proportions and the dangers it poses. While I’m not suggesting that Chinese nationalism is innocuous, and is not something we ought to continue to concern ourselves with, we really should keep in mind that nationalism is an ideology that feeds on perceived slights and tends, conversely, to diminish when it can’t claim to feel put upon. We should recognize it for what it mostly is — the unsurprising residue of China’s historical experience, utterly comprehensible by anyone with the least capacity for empathy, and remarkable mainly for its relative impotence.

More in SupChina.

Kaiser Kuo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him as a speaker at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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WorldExpo2010: a feel-good show for China

Image by thewamphyri via Flickr

My recent trip to Shanghai was a good opportunity to execute a minor post mortem of the Shanghai Worldexpo 2010 that has kept so many people in this city busy over the past years. My main finding - actually a confirmation of earlier observations: it has been a massive feel-good show for China, where foreign participants acted as secundary figurants at best.
One of my friends justed returned from a massive congratulatory meeting the central government had organized in Beijing for all involved in the organization on the Chinese side. The meeting, with all Chinese leaders present, was splashed out over all avaible media channels. From the central governments perspective the WordExpo in Shanghai was a big success, told my friend. "They never organized this after the Beijing Olympics".
The government wanted to show its own citzens it was able to organise such a massive international event. It archieved its goal of getting 70 million visitors to the site - that the event hardly had an impact outside China and did not attract large crowds of foreign visitors was not relevant: they were not the target audience anyway.
After the number of visitors was rather disappointing in the first month, Shanghai took extra ordinary measures the target would be met. For each Shanghai hukou there was a free ticket available, and a transportation card worth 200 Renminbi (20 Euro); workunits (danwei's) were blackmailed into purchasing tickets (paid) and hand them out for free to their staff. That did the trick.
The China pavilion was the only one still in place - and will be till April 2011. Most foreigners did not make it, because of the overwhelming number of Chinese visitors, who were still passing by in large crowds in December and January. The 8-minute opening movie was not only very well done, it illustrated also the feel-good sentiment China wanted to display: the greatness of what China had achieved over the past 30 years of reform.
Not only made the Shanghai a nice return on its investments (and indeed a great subway system), it had the right nationalistic touch, the central government wanted to display for its citizens.

Related articles

• Major flaws of an economic success story - Huang Yasheng (chinaherald.net)
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