LAT-UCLA Festival of Books Follow-Up, Part I

In a prior post, I tried to give a run down of what was said by the panelists at the two sessions I attended.

For this post, I'll share my reactions to what they had to say.

The "China in the American Imagination" panel had a lively dynamic with four on stage. Lisa See has light hair and fair skin color and you would not guess she has roots in the Chinese-American immigrant experience. Anchee Min is a recent immigrant and her English is fairly good and she has good things to share but occasionally, she struggled for words. Ross Terrill is a Brit but life long China watcher. Iris Chang is an American born Chinese. I thoroughly enjoyed the varied perspectives each brought to the discussion. Also, the types of books they write are completely different.

Lisa's moderating style was just right: a few well place questions and let the panelists take it from there.

When Anchee said that her novels often delve into the Chinese sense of duty, I could feel a sense of connection to what she was saying. Even though I'm an American born Chinese, I have picked up that element of Chinese culture by osmosis from my parents and the church I went to. In Christian belief and practice, a sense of duty is considered a virtue but combining that with my cultural upbringing, that trait is stamped into my soul. And so when Anchee spoke of with sadness at how China's leaders have often failed in their duty to rule the people well, I felt it too. I'm an American citizen, as she is now, yet, I feel sad when I think of the times China has gone into non-productive phases and even self-destructive spasms.

Terrill pretty much stuck to historical and political observations on China and I think he was very effective in showing just how big China is and the large footprint it is making on the world stage. Admittedly, most attention is being focused on the Middle East, it would be wise to put many more eyes and ears on what is going on in China.

I'm not willing to view China as the next enemy for America to fight. Unlike the USSR that had so little relationship with the West, China is becoming more and more integrated into the fabric of the world economy. Thus, there is much incentive for them to moderate their views.

Speaking of ties to the world economy, I heard on the radio that they are now the second largest oil importing nation behind the USA which really came as a shock to me. I went to the internet to check it out and it is the case.

Thus, all this talk about the Saudi's "promising" Bush to lower the oil prices to help him get re-elected may be all a bunch of hooey because if China is able to buy up oil then demand will keep prices up even if supply were to be increased by the Saudis.

Update: Oil prices continue to rise despite Saudi promises to USA and Europe to ramp up production.

The other area of geopolitical concern which unfortunately didn't come up in the panel is the situation with Taiwan. World news savvy readers will know there was an election there recently and a very controversial and close one at that. In that web link, there is the startling data on the referendum question. Except:

1. The People of Taiwan demand that the Taiwan Strait issue be resolved through peaceful means. Should Mainland China refuse to withdraw the missiles it has targeted at Taiwan and to openly renounce the use of force against us, would you agree that the Government should acquire more advanced anti-missile weapons to strengthen Taiwan's self-defense capabilities?

2. Would you agree that our Government should engage in negotiation with Mainland China on the establishment of a "peace and stability" framework for cross-strait interactions in order to build consensus and for the welfare of the peoples on both sides?

For either referendum to be valid, more than 50% of eligible voters needed to cast ballots. More than seven million votes were cast on both referendum, but this amounted to just over 45% of the potential electorate. Despite the overwhelming support of those casting ballots (over 80% voted "agree"), neither measure passed.

It is going to be interesting to see how China and Taiwan interact with each other in the decades ahead. Clearly there is nervousness in Taiwan about China's saber-rattling.

Iris gave a good summary of the Chinese experience in America by pointing out the cyclical acceptance and rejection of Chinese in America. Last year, I saw Bill Moyer's Becoming American: The Chinese Experience so I have gotten a taste of the history she talked about. I can't recall if she was interviewed in the documentary but it wouldn't surprise me if she was.

Right now, my impression is that the American view of Chinese in America is generally favorable. Growing up in Los Angeles, I don't recall any outright blatant racism. Having traveled through about 1/2 of the USA, I can't say I have ever felt uncomfortable because of race reasons. I've been in some dodgy places but I think anyone of any race would have felt uncomfortable there. Anyway, there have been places where I'm sure the locals haven't seen many Asian faces so they look a second time and even a third time but I never felt any hostility.

In terms of meeting and talking to people, I'm guessing with a first name like Rene, I throw people for a loop. Some know that name is French so they think I might be Vietnamese because it was a former French colony. Sometimes, because I have a camera, they will think I'm a Japanese tourist! A few times, probably due to my facial features, people will guess I'm Korean. In any case, I view these experiences as people who are genuinely curious trying to figure me out and don't assume any racist intent.

Please check out my photo essays from my 2001 trip to China and Asia.