Yesterday I looked at the case of the Japanese cyclist, which raised the question of a whether theres a Chinese
inferiority complex when dealing with
foreigners. Global Times ran a piece along these lines saying, A simple bike
has seemingly reflected an
embarrassing situation, namely that
Chinese still cannot view foreigners
equally. People are still too sensitive to
foreign evaluations of the country and confined to an inferior mentality. Long ago China regarded all other
countries as tributaries to itself and
actually had a very blatant
SUPERIORITY complex. In 1792, King
George III of England sent a delegation
to show the Qianlong emperor some British goods and persuade him to open
China to greater trade with the West.
The emperor responded with a
sufficiently condescending refusal that labeled foreigners barbarians and
included passages like: You, O King,
from afar have yearned after the
blessings of our civilization, and in your
eagerness to come into touch with our
converting influence have sent an embassy across the sea bearing a
memorial. I have already taken note of
your respectful spirit of submission. By cutting itself off from the ever-
globalized and technological world,
China was left vulnerable to the Opium
Wars. Then the end of the 19 century brought the ultimate slap in the face.
China was pummeled in the First Sino-
Japanese War after the little barbarian
island seized the opportunity China had
brushed away. This was all part of the
greater Century of Humiliation, which is oft-cited as the root of Chinas
inferiority complex with foreigners and
hunger for international validation. So many Chinese regard it as shameless
historical kowtowing when foreigners
are perceived to get special treatment
like in the case with the Japanese
cyclist. But do we foreigners really
receive elevated treatment above our Chinese peers? Yes and no. Global Times was
absolutely right in saying Chinese still
cannot view foreigners equally, but it
goes both ways. Some take the
19 -20 century inferiority outlook and worship foreign things and people.
But quite a few take the opposite 18
century chauvinistic attitude. Im often invited to strangers homes,
bought drinks, taken to dinner and
offered high-paying jobs by virtue of
having a foreign face. That I cant deny. But Im also overcharged for everything
(by normal merchants and government policy). Im used as a pawn in guanxi- maneuvering and treated like a
performing monkey. I live in constant
fear that Ill be booted out of the
country if I flub up some bureaucratic procedure. A few people have tried to talk my girlfriend out of dating me
because of the indignity it brings to
China. And Im reminded on a daily
basis that my entire identity is nothing
more than 外国人 (outside-country
person). And if thats all a Japanese visitor deals with, hes very lucky. Obviously most foreigners feel like they
come out ahead in the end, or they
wouldnt still be here. But being a
foreigner entails trade-offs many
Chinese dont recognize. Today I read a very interesting piece in the Economic Observer giving a very
different take on the Japanese cyclist. It
said, Is the problem that police neglect
ordinary people or that ordinary people
let themselves be neglected?
Government is always blamed for discontent, and social problems are
always ascribed to mismanagement by
officials. But there are plenty of people
acquiescing in this. [ ]Why do
foreigners always get special treatment
in China? Is it because, unlike many Chinese who are willing to put up with
the way things are, they insist on
making a fuss? In the graduate program Im in
currently in Beijing, were separated
into a class of only foreigners and a few
classes of only Chinese. A few weeks
ago a Chinese classmate was told by an
administrator that she wouldnt get credit for a class shed completed. It had
been approved as an elective at the
beginning of the semester but, at the
end, the administrator (who my friend
says hates her) arbitrarily decided the
course wouldnt count. On the other side, we foreign students
are accommodated at every turn.
Administration holds regular meetings
to hear our feedback on what we like
and dont like about the program. And if
someone has beef with a teacher, theyll usually get their way. On the
surface this probably looks like blatant
special treatment for foreigners. But I remember last year many of the
foreign and Chinese students had plans
to go out together one night. However,
a few hours before, the Chinese
students said their teacher had
scheduled a last-minute meeting to go over pointless drivel at 7:00 on a
Friday night. So? I said. Tell the teacher tough ****.
You already have plans. No, shes making us go, my friend
replied. Is she holding a gun to your head or
something? I pushed. Tell her she
needs to give you a respectful amount
of notice if she expects you to show
up. We cant, my friend scoffed gently.
Im sorry. The reason for the special treatment
of foreign students became pretty clear.
Another Chinese student would later
talk about the administration saying,
only half-jokingly,They come and bully
us because theyve gotten so used to getting bullied by you foreigners.
On China’s inferiority complex « Sinostand
Their celebrities are always going to
Japan to promote and even try to speak
or sing in Japanese, don't you think it's
kind of inferiority? Because I never saw
a Japanese celebs going to Korea and
then singing in Korean. Korean companies modeled a lot of
their products after Japan's products
such as Samsung copying Sony,
Hyundai copying Toyota etc and yet
even though they make their products
cheaper, Japanese products are still getting more revenue.
Anyways, I don't think Japan thinks of
Korea as rival. Koreans always mention
Samsung, LG and Hyundai like a broken
record but Korea merely can copy the
technologies but cannot create them (in many case they even cannot copy
them). Korean companies don't have
technologies. Japanese companies have
the original technology. Therefore,
there is no choice for Korean companies
but to import them from Japan and in fact, the more Korean companies sell
their products, the more Japan earn
money. Check the korean trade deficit
with Japan. Beside, if it weren't
currency swap from Japan and China
(and US), Korea would've collapsed already.
Why do Koreans have such inferiority
complex toward Japanese? Jealousy
much?
And btw K-pop/drama isn't that popular
in Japan as Koreans like to point out, it's only popular within Zanichi Koreans
(Yes Korean in Japanese)
Beside plastic surgery trends, what
have Koreans achieve?
Why Do Koreans Have Inferiority Complex Toward Japanese? « My Financial Theory
inferiority complex when dealing with
foreigners. Global Times ran a piece along these lines saying, A simple bike
has seemingly reflected an
embarrassing situation, namely that
Chinese still cannot view foreigners
equally. People are still too sensitive to
foreign evaluations of the country and confined to an inferior mentality. Long ago China regarded all other
countries as tributaries to itself and
actually had a very blatant
SUPERIORITY complex. In 1792, King
George III of England sent a delegation
to show the Qianlong emperor some British goods and persuade him to open
China to greater trade with the West.
The emperor responded with a
sufficiently condescending refusal that labeled foreigners barbarians and
included passages like: You, O King,
from afar have yearned after the
blessings of our civilization, and in your
eagerness to come into touch with our
converting influence have sent an embassy across the sea bearing a
memorial. I have already taken note of
your respectful spirit of submission. By cutting itself off from the ever-
globalized and technological world,
China was left vulnerable to the Opium
Wars. Then the end of the 19 century brought the ultimate slap in the face.
China was pummeled in the First Sino-
Japanese War after the little barbarian
island seized the opportunity China had
brushed away. This was all part of the
greater Century of Humiliation, which is oft-cited as the root of Chinas
inferiority complex with foreigners and
hunger for international validation. So many Chinese regard it as shameless
historical kowtowing when foreigners
are perceived to get special treatment
like in the case with the Japanese
cyclist. But do we foreigners really
receive elevated treatment above our Chinese peers? Yes and no. Global Times was
absolutely right in saying Chinese still
cannot view foreigners equally, but it
goes both ways. Some take the
19 -20 century inferiority outlook and worship foreign things and people.
But quite a few take the opposite 18
century chauvinistic attitude. Im often invited to strangers homes,
bought drinks, taken to dinner and
offered high-paying jobs by virtue of
having a foreign face. That I cant deny. But Im also overcharged for everything
(by normal merchants and government policy). Im used as a pawn in guanxi- maneuvering and treated like a
performing monkey. I live in constant
fear that Ill be booted out of the
country if I flub up some bureaucratic procedure. A few people have tried to talk my girlfriend out of dating me
because of the indignity it brings to
China. And Im reminded on a daily
basis that my entire identity is nothing
more than 外国人 (outside-country
person). And if thats all a Japanese visitor deals with, hes very lucky. Obviously most foreigners feel like they
come out ahead in the end, or they
wouldnt still be here. But being a
foreigner entails trade-offs many
Chinese dont recognize. Today I read a very interesting piece in the Economic Observer giving a very
different take on the Japanese cyclist. It
said, Is the problem that police neglect
ordinary people or that ordinary people
let themselves be neglected?
Government is always blamed for discontent, and social problems are
always ascribed to mismanagement by
officials. But there are plenty of people
acquiescing in this. [ ]Why do
foreigners always get special treatment
in China? Is it because, unlike many Chinese who are willing to put up with
the way things are, they insist on
making a fuss? In the graduate program Im in
currently in Beijing, were separated
into a class of only foreigners and a few
classes of only Chinese. A few weeks
ago a Chinese classmate was told by an
administrator that she wouldnt get credit for a class shed completed. It had
been approved as an elective at the
beginning of the semester but, at the
end, the administrator (who my friend
says hates her) arbitrarily decided the
course wouldnt count. On the other side, we foreign students
are accommodated at every turn.
Administration holds regular meetings
to hear our feedback on what we like
and dont like about the program. And if
someone has beef with a teacher, theyll usually get their way. On the
surface this probably looks like blatant
special treatment for foreigners. But I remember last year many of the
foreign and Chinese students had plans
to go out together one night. However,
a few hours before, the Chinese
students said their teacher had
scheduled a last-minute meeting to go over pointless drivel at 7:00 on a
Friday night. So? I said. Tell the teacher tough ****.
You already have plans. No, shes making us go, my friend
replied. Is she holding a gun to your head or
something? I pushed. Tell her she
needs to give you a respectful amount
of notice if she expects you to show
up. We cant, my friend scoffed gently.
Im sorry. The reason for the special treatment
of foreign students became pretty clear.
Another Chinese student would later
talk about the administration saying,
only half-jokingly,They come and bully
us because theyve gotten so used to getting bullied by you foreigners.
On China’s inferiority complex « Sinostand
Their celebrities are always going to
Japan to promote and even try to speak
or sing in Japanese, don't you think it's
kind of inferiority? Because I never saw
a Japanese celebs going to Korea and
then singing in Korean. Korean companies modeled a lot of
their products after Japan's products
such as Samsung copying Sony,
Hyundai copying Toyota etc and yet
even though they make their products
cheaper, Japanese products are still getting more revenue.
Anyways, I don't think Japan thinks of
Korea as rival. Koreans always mention
Samsung, LG and Hyundai like a broken
record but Korea merely can copy the
technologies but cannot create them (in many case they even cannot copy
them). Korean companies don't have
technologies. Japanese companies have
the original technology. Therefore,
there is no choice for Korean companies
but to import them from Japan and in fact, the more Korean companies sell
their products, the more Japan earn
money. Check the korean trade deficit
with Japan. Beside, if it weren't
currency swap from Japan and China
(and US), Korea would've collapsed already.
Why do Koreans have such inferiority
complex toward Japanese? Jealousy
much?
And btw K-pop/drama isn't that popular
in Japan as Koreans like to point out, it's only popular within Zanichi Koreans
(Yes Korean in Japanese)
Beside plastic surgery trends, what
have Koreans achieve?
Why Do Koreans Have Inferiority Complex Toward Japanese? « My Financial Theory
