What China Is Missing from its Development

It was not until I left China for Cambridge that I realized how much political and economic issues dominate Western representations of China.  At that time, I also began to realize how much these issues had dominated the domestic discourses in China. Renowned writer Saul Bellow once lamented the fact that political and economic discussions in the U.S. had replaced humanistic and philosophical concern for human wellbeing.  Now, I think he could say the same about China. Although it is understandable that China must use economic opportunities to attract foreign interests, the emphasis on China as an economic power has dehumanized China, making it easy to forget that it is a nation made of people. The Chinese Dream that President Xi Jinping promised when he took office cannot be just about the material wellbeing of the people. To make China a strong and impactful nation, China must take human and character development into its agenda.

The overemphasis of China as an economic powerhouse, both at home and abroad, has drastic implications. For one, it suggests that China can only influence the world through economic power rather than through the power of its culture. Second, the Chinese may become indifferent to the characteristics of the individual, thus diminishing the personal responsibilities that good citizens should have for their country and society as a whole.

We have repeatedly seen the impersonal, obedient representations of China and Chinese people in international media. Economic figures, mass labor, pollution, violation of human rights, and IT hacks are some examples of how China is seen through the Western lens. Due to market incentives, Hollywood movies often add a scene in Shanghai or Hong Kong and throw in a few minor Chinese characters. These representations are often faceless, mysterious, and uninteresting business or political men or women. Recent controversy on a Chinese edition of Iron Man 3, the only version that includes Chinese actors, exemplifies how the representations of individual Chinese characters are of marginal importance to the rest of the world; these characters are included in movies because of Chinese market demand rather than any sort of international appeal. We must chide the movie producer for selectively excluding these characters and thereby perpetuating the representation of their insignificance.

However, some Chinese people also have to take partial blame for the marginalization of their countrymen. In recent years, some Chinese people have not made a good name of themselves. From Hong Kong to the U.S., Chinese tourists are increasingly characterized by their buying power and their unsocial and disrespectful behaviors. They are welcomed largely as an economic necessity.

The marginalization of the Chinese as individual persons is partially caused by the focus on development that can be measured in numerical scales. Since Deng Xiaoping opened up China’s markets to the outside world, we have seen economic development and political reform at an impressive pace. Some of what people say is true: Chinese people are diligent, hardworking, and oftentimes put the group before the individual. But the modern Chinese also often focus more on things that can be measured, like achievements and gains, rather than on personal growth and development, which is naturally more ambiguous and difficult to measure.

Great nations leave a legacy to the rest of the world. Economic benefits come and go, but crafts, actions, and beliefs are passed on to the rest of the world for centuries to come. The U.S. has many problems with its democratic system, from an inability to carry out meaningful policies to chaotic congressional discussions. However, one thing the U.S. does have is its resilience. Despite its many past mistakes, including the recent failure to pass background checks on weapons, its people have shown instances where they are willing and able to "run again." So I must ask: What is China's legacy and character as a nation and as a people?

China must take human and character development as an important building block to fulfilling the "Chinese Dream." Besides offering its citizens the opportunity to own a car and a house, China must take on something more substantial and long lasting. It needs more than ephemeral wealth to characterize and glue its people together. Culture and personality will be the key. Only through a realization of human and character development can China truly offer more than what the misleading, dull representations suggest. From an economic lens, this type of development would enhance innovation and creativity. From a humanistic lens, the Chinese people would maintain a higher level of happiness through community, in spite of economic fluctuations, and offer their rich and historical array of cultural and spiritual ideas to the rest of the world.

Representations of Chinese by both themselves and the West do not present a full picture. I have known many Chinese friends who have equal potential for empathy and creative thinking as the entrepreneurs and humanitarian workers we see in mainstream media. These people, who could truly contribute to the wellbeing of their fellow man, have yet to be able to exert themselves as a representation of the Chinese character. China has the ability to offer its own citizens and the rest of the world much more than material progress.

Daniel J. Dong ’16 is a Crimson editorial writer in Matthews Hall.