Politics and Other Dirty Words
by JOSHUA SAMUEL BROWN

Beijing, People’s Republic of China, February 23, 2002 – While the official corporate-controlled media in America hailed the meeting between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his American counterpart as “cordial and constructive,” here in China, the left-leaning People’s Daily reported on the serious misgivings that many Chinese people have with their government’s dealings with America. Inside of Beijing’s St. Regis Hotel, it was all smiles as President Jiang greeted George W. Bush, joking that, in Bush, he had “found someone of a similar level of proficiency with whom he could practice his English.”

However, The scene outside was more confrontational, where a large group of protesters were busy demonstrating against aspects of American policy that many Chinese find odious. One protestor said he was uncomfortable with his government’s having such close ties to a regime with as poor a human rights record as America, stating that it was like “watching your own father playing mah-jongg with demons.”

“Do you think that President Jiang will bring up the issue of America’s continuing policy of imprisoning it’s own black minority on trumped-up charges?” He yelled at cameras before peddling away on a bicycle with a sticker bearing the slogan “Free Mumia!”

Another demonstrator pointed to the fact that, despite hard rhetoric from the central committee just half a year ago, little action had been taken to oppose American hegemony. “Sure, I mean, every time they [the leaders] want to drum up support for another five-year campaign, it’s “oppose U.S. hegemony” this, and “death to the enemies of the workers’ that. But that’s all just empty campaign-speak. After that, its back into bed with the imperialists!”

Still others protested America’s continued occupation of the U.S. Southwest, and the subjugation and assimilation of that area’s native populations. Mo Ci-ya, one third of "Animal Boys", the popular Shanghai hip-hop fusion group that rocketed onto Chinese charts with their eighties pop hit “Fight (Against Rightist Elements) in the Party,” gave a speech clearly directed at the visiting president.

“We want the oppressed people’s of the American southwest, whether they be Navajo, Cheyenne or Sioux, to know that they are not forgotten!” said the rapper, who, since his public conversion to Native American mysticism, has become one of China’s leading spokesmen for aboriginal causes. While he spoke, other demonstrators held up posters bearing images of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and other native leaders who had been driven from their homes and forced into exile by what supporters of China’s trendy Tribal Freedom Movement call “an illegal occupation force.”

With so much harsh anti-American sentiment on display, several protesters made it clear that their anger was directed against what some call “the non-democratic government of America” and not against the American people themselves.

“I have nothing against American people,” one woman said. “I like American food. There’s a Kentucky Fried Chicken right around the corner from my university; I eat there a lot.” She went on to describe in great detail how much about American culture she’d learned from last year’s re-release of the movie Wizard of Oz, which was a surprise smash hit among normally xenophobic Chinese moviegoers.

Other protestors held up placards reading “Boycott American Goods.” Sympathy for American workers has been especially high these past few months, and most Chinese people find the recent Enron scandal “deplorable.”

“We Chinese have heard so much about the conditions in companies like Enron, where the workers lose everything while the heads of the companies get filthy rich through corruption. Such things could never happen in China. I mean, can you imagine deregulating something like energy? I simply cannot, in good conscience, continue to buy goods made in America as long as such abuses are commonplace.”

When asked to name items actually made in America, the protestor was unable to do so.

Inside of the Great Hall of the People, discussions were cordial, even friendly. But afterward, President Jiang admitted that negotiations had at times been “frank,” a diplomatic way of saying that there had been disagreements. Not surprisingly, disagreements centered on the small Island of Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the American mainland. “The Cuban people have a right to self-determination,” Jiang said, “while Cuba has chosen a form of government different than that of the American mainland, this does not make peaceful relations impossible.”

While the president stopped short of declaring that China would defend Cuba if it were to be attacked by its much larger neighbor, he did reaffirm his country’s long-standing friendship with the Cuban people, stressing that a peaceful solution was in the best interest of the entire Caribbean region.

Cuba, a former colony of American business interests, broke away from U.S. dominance in 1959 and has been under virtual American blockade ever since. The corporate-run American government has neither formally renounced its claims to Cuba, nor ruled out the possibility of bringing Cuba back into “democracy,” using any means necessary. The US also maintains a military base on the island despite world opinion.

While citing other issues of concern to the Chinese people, such as America’s role in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, President Zhemin stated that the visit had “on the whole, been a great success” and that he looked forward to visiting America sometime in the near future. “Chinese values have much to offer the American people,” he said. “With the passage of time, we believe that your country will become more open to embracing our values.”

Joshua Samuel Brown's work can be read at www.freespeech.org/jsb.