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The Roots of Chinese Xenophobia
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22363 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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Date : |
7 / 2002 |
1,895 Words |
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Dennis Van Vranken Hickey
Dennis Van Vranken Hickey is professor in the political
science department at Southwest Missouri State University. |
In 1900, the American public reacted with horror to newspaper accounts describing a siege of hundreds of foreign diplomats and civilians who were trapped inside a diplomatic compound in Peking, China. The atrocities committed by some members of the Chinese population--in this instance instigated by a group known as the Boxers--seemed incomprehensible and barbaric to many in the international community.
Almost one century later--in 1999 to be exact--the American public once again expressed surprise and bewilderment as news stories depicted Chinese mobs attacking the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. In both cases, strong evidence suggested that the Chinese government tacitly condoned the sieges. At the same time, however, it appeared that the assaults enjoyed widespread popular approval.
When seeking to explain these and other ugly incidents, Western news reports traditionally dismissed them as symbols of Chinese irrationality and xenophobia. More recently, they are ascribed simply to a particularly virulent and nasty brand of nationalism. Unfortunately, little effort is directed toward uncovering the reasons why the Chinese sometimes seem xenophobic, angry, or irrational.
The Chinese paradigm
The concept of paradigms is borrowed from Thomas Kuhn, who employed them to describe advances in science. A paradigm may be defined as a basic assumption in a field of science. The acceptance of these assumptions is shared by practitioners in a given field and usually is not subject to widespread discussion or debate. Over time, paradigms may shift, but this change often
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