There has been a repeated rejoinder to my post Free Advice to the Free Tibet Crowd, that has been phrased as such: “It’s one thing to argue that Tibetans should take their case to the Chinese people; it is quite another to actually do it. How would you go about it?” and “A valid point in general, but engaging the Chinese population when such strict information controls, particularly political information, exist is easier said than done. Perhaps an answer to this question could elevate your argument.”Fair enough, and so I give you…
in Tibetan Causes
(or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Chinese)
Step One: Recognizing Chinese People are Involved Already
Chinese people constitute some 98% (or some other ridiculous majority I can’t be bothered to look up) of the People’s Republic of China, which Tibet is a part of whether you like it or not. I am not talking about the government. I’m talking about individuals. If democracy is important to you, perhaps popular opinion is as well.
“Initiative must come from individuals. Unless each individual develops a sense of responsibility, the whole community cannot move. So therefore it is very essential that we should not feel that individual effort is meaningless. The movement of the society, community or group of people means joining individuals. Society means a collection of individuals… the ultimate agreement or solution must be found by the Chinese and Tibetans themselves. For that we need support from the Chinese side, I mean from the Chinese people’s side; that is very essential.” – The Dalai Lama
“I think you should keep in mind compassion with wisdom. It is very important to utilize one’s faculty of intelligence to judge the long-term and short-term consequences of one’s actions.” – The Dalai Lama
Step Two: Learn to Communicate with Chinese People
Learn Chinese.
“Nonviolence, on the other hand, means dialogue, it means using language to communicate.” – The Dalai Lama
Step Three: Understand That Chinese People Form Their Own Beliefs and Have Self-Respect
Chinese people are not programmed robots. They actually form their own opinions, and they don’t believe they are stupid. It is not enough to learn the language; you must listen to their perspective and respect them as fully formed human beings who believe it sincerely. If all you do is harass them about being genocidal maniacs and mindless Communist zombies, they won’t listen to it. Because you’re being a jerk, and they don’t deserve personal blame for the actions of their government. Just like it’s not my personal fault as an American that thousands of Iraqis are dead, and if some Chinese guy starts telling me it is, I don’t listen to him either.
“And dialogue means compromise: listening to others’ views, and respecting others’ rights, in a spirit of reconciliation.” – The Dalai Lama
Step Four: Some Chinese People Use the Internet
… they read alot more Western stuff than you might imagine, and they even make their own proxies. Or why don’t you try making some MySpace friends*? Or how about diverting all that money for lobbying on Capitol Hill to some communications initiatives? How about bridge blogging? Hey, there are some Chinese people who read this blog, and I’m not even smart enough to blog in Chinese. I would if I could, though. I’d recommend the Handbook for Cyber-Dissidents, but unfortunately that only teaches those living in restricted societies – not how to speak to those people from outside and find common ground and friendship, which is a skill for which there ought to be a handbook (paging Rebecca MacKinnon, book idea). It’s difficult work demanding the empathy, wisdom and patience of… how do I put this… a bodhisattva.
At the very least, for crying out loud, make some decent Chinese banners and Chinese versions of your websites. At the very, very least.
*Act fast before supplies run out.
Shorter Primer: Try paying attention to what Buddhism and the Dalai Lama actually say before embarking on some arrogant self-righteous crusade – that’s been going nowhere fast for a long, long time.
hmmm… now if only we could get the US Gov to read your brief and wonderful post as well, sino-us relations might go a lot more smoothly as well 😉
Juhuacha: I have no problem with the US government reading it if they like, but it’s not meant for them. This is aimed at individual activists and NGOs.
If the US government attempted to follow it actually, Chinese citizens could simply dismiss their outreach as government propaganda. Which, technically, is what it would be.
Dude. Great points you make. Yes, another good book somebody needs to write.
On the list it goes… 😉
Absolutely. I still think that the Tibet issue is a bad one to raise as an example, but in general this is spot on. The only problem is finding how to communicate. Sound too po-faced and you come across like the government – instant switch off. And who’s got the money for big jazzy communications campaigns? But it’s got to be worth a go, at least.
@Phil: as I point out in Step One, the Dalai Lama says it’s all about individuals. There are 1.3 billion Chinese individuals, and millions are on the Internet. I’m not even thinking of a big jazzy campaign – I’m thinking of one individual activist reaching out to communicate with individual Chinese netizens. And start by listening.
I actually think Tibet is the perfect example for this, because 1) the M.O. for 50 years hasn’t worked, has it? and 2) The words of the Dalai Lama illustrate what’s missing. The irony is too perfect.
US gov does have a program to communicate with Chinese people in Chinese. It’s called VOA.
VOA is/was quite popular with many Chinese youth. Some like its Special English program, some like to hear alternative views for a change from the dreadful party diatribe.
But its credibility took a beating after the Tiananmen Incident/Massacre. First it was “10s of thousands” killed, then it became “thousands”, then its “hundreds possibly thousands”.
Even Chinese are realizing it’s still government propaganda after all, albeit with Hollywood packaging and Madison Avenue subtlety.
This really is a brilliantly constructed piece. Acts, like the one which occurred Mt. Everest (err…I mean Quomolomga) only serve to reinforce the commonly held Chinese view that Westerners like to meddle in Chinese affairs. There certainly are more effective, and intelligent ways to encourage healthy dialogue on the subject. Flipping a thumb at China will only make things work. By the way, nice use of Dalai Lama quotes.
Ben, talking to the Chinese really should start with listening to what they have to say.
VOA is not it. VOA is us old ma’sas talking at them like they are some kind of sub-human.
If you we really are interested in talking about Tibet with the Chinese, perhaps we will have a real conversation about our own transgressions.
Why don’t we take a look at the blood soaked ground we are standing on? Measure ourselves with the same demand we make of the Chinese?
pretty ironic your use of the DL’s quotes as basis for your points, and how well his engagement with the chinese has gone.
i agree with this mostly. however the problem being is that most mainlanders are force fed so much BS through the news/gov, few are willing to accept any other channels. but i suppose if you could get through to the few who are willing to open their minds, they could push to others.
so then the problem becomes finding those who are willing to broaden their scope.
Wise topic, whenever I engage with some US freedom fighters they simply believe that I’m brainwashed inside out, thus Chicom, Brainwash, Propaganda, Red China/Army, Massacre/Extermination became the most occuring word during any discussions. And most of them seemed don’t even bother to carefully consider the points or evidences I rose. They natively think Chinese been deperately planning to attack US and we are deceived by our propaganda ever since…
Sometimes I think if they just happen to have watched too much Sarah Corner Choronicles because if you replace Skynet, Terminators and Sarah Corner Family with CCP, PLA and US you get a neat fit.
“i agree with this mostly. however the problem being is that most mainlanders are force fed so much BS through the news/gov, few are willing to accept any other channels. but i suppose if you could get through to the few who are willing to open their minds, they could push to others.”
As an American, I can honestly say my country resembles that remark. Maybe we have more in common than we think.
nice article.