Why I am a Dragon Slayer

 The terms “Panda Hugger”  and “Dragon Slayer” describe the two kinds of sinophiles, expats, or politicians who have decided to either unconditionally love or overly-criticize China. I’m a Dragon-Slayer and would like to offer four reasons in defense of the dragon killing. I look forward to being challenged, especially by a panda-hugger and expect a lively debate. After all as a kid, I remember my mom saying “don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.”

Number 1: Chinese people suffer more than I.

“Oh China is so great, you have a disposable income, an easy job, girls fall in your lap without trying, so why you got to complain about it so much?” so says my friend, panda firmly in grasp. It is likely a female panda, or pandette. He has a point, China can’t be so bad, so why should I complain about it?

Well first of all the lives of expats are mostly cushioned from reality. We tend to live and work with the upper middle-class and above. But every now and then we hear the true stories. My fiancé’s school mate suddenly leaves a dinner in tears, having heard her family had their house knock-downed. A boss at the high school had to pay 100,000RMB in bribes to secure an epidural for his pregnant wife, as it wasn’t “necessary.” I once knew a girl whose father had actually sold her younger sister. Yep, she was rural but you get the idea. When foreigners turn up their noses about the dark and gritty China, I get angry. Nothing, not slavery, racism, or ignorance has ever gotten better by being ignored. If you really loved this country you would care about the people.

Number 2 : You wouldn’t excuse it at home.

       Very few of us would accept a relative saying “You shouldn’t marry people who are a different race than you.” We all have racist uncle Joe from Alabama-Arkansas,Bogan Tasmania, but we try to ignore him during the holiday dinner, and pretend we aren’t really related. After he leaves we all shake our heads over him, and look forward to not seeing him. On the other hand, I can’t count the number of countless racist, and I mean racist, things that go on in China. Black teachers routinely get turned down for jobs or even abandoned at the airport. People wonder why my parents adopted a special needs child. Two women have even asked me if “it was possible to return him after they paid” like my brother is a defective kitchen appliance and not a human being.

“Oh give them time, they don’t know any better.” Well guess what, if you are rich enough to have a BMW an iphone, and a Hugo Boss suit you are rich enough to afford a decent education, and worldly enough to know you are an offensive twit. Don’t make excuses, you wouldn’t be friends with klan members back home, and your really shouldn’t here either. Recently, during a showing of a civil war documentary, my students, 18 years old, laughed at Harriet Tubman and called her ugly. Way to go to America guys.

Number 3: It isn’t racist, Chinese live in other places

Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia are full of ethnic Chinese. So is Taiwan. Why do the inhabitants of these countries and regions get so uneasy at being lumped in with their Han relations? You cross a river, and suddenly it’s like all the Chinese people learned how to say thank you, and obey traffic signs. Now everywhere has problems, but I can’t think of anywhere that shows you the damage of the Cultural Revolution as well as the Hong Kong-mainland divide.

Similarly, the foreign students from Taiwan-China at my university will well liked, friendly with the Japanese, and had international friends. The mainland Chinese couldn’t or wouldn’t talk to anybody. That they both spoke Mandarin as a first language should clue you into the great cultural versus ethnic linguistic divide.

Number 4: The future is bleak

China is the 2^nd largest economy, and largest supplier of foreign students in the world. It is a leading producer of tourists, a huge market, a monstrous consumer of luxury goods, and has arrived. The Dragon has awoke and the world has noticed. But instead of Chinese people taking their rightful place as a major player, many of them prefer to engage in cognitive fallacy and blaming others. Chinese students are the reasons for the SAT being cancelled due to Cheating scandals. Chinese students have caused universities to lower standards. Chinese tourists have created a terrible name for themselves as loud, loutish, compulsive shoppers. A quick read on this very website will provide evidence for the above accusations.

Even worse is when panda-huggers say things like “America started a war in Iraq.” Yes it did. Yes you can read countless websites that protest it. Yes you can even find a few politicians who criticize it. In fact you can even vote against politicians who approved of the war.  In fact you can even join the American Communist Party, should you desire world peace and brotherhood. I wonder how many Chinese people can choose their media sources? Oh, they need a VPN? Why is that?

Conclusion

China is going to be a major power player in the future, and unless the Chinese people can improve their reputation abroad, they will be blamed for everything, both fair and unfair. Anti-Chinese political parties have started to play a role in sub-Saharan African politics. Angel Merkel as head of the Christian Democrats has had a strained relationship with China due to human rights. Lastly China continues to support the pariah states of the world, namely North Korea. So no, I’m deeply concerned about a future where China rules supreme. Although such a future may cheer up those who have snuggled up to their Panda, I will keep slaying dragons.