Made In China

 

 

by Teresa Williams
Sojourner Communications
"In the Spirit of Truth & in the Spirit of Freedom"

April 17, 2001

 

 

The recent events surrounding the forced landing of a U.S. military spy plane off the coast of China by the Chinese military which resulted in a downed Chinese aircraft and missing pilot has generated a mixed bag of debate, outrage, surprise and concern.

 

China boldly stood up and articulated its position on the United States' responsibility in this matter while challenging America's hegemonic logic and distorted reasoning as to why the American spy planes were in the area in the first place. China firmly demanded an apology from the U.S. for this incident which the U.S. initially refused to do citing it had nothing to apologize for. Such arrogance and denial by the U.S. fomented further outrage in China and around the world and the U.S. media tried vehemently to portray the Chinese people as oversensitive, irrational and culturally extremist in their demands for an apology in addition to China's courage in standing up to the so-called global superpower.

 

Despite China's internal issues regarding human rights and worker's rights (which is another matter) and their position on Taiwan, the Chinese government illustrated to the rest of the world that they are capable of protecting their sovereignty as a nation and a people while addressing the contradictions of the United States' global policing and spying.

 

As our media continues to portray the 'China Problem' as a menace while beefing up the successes of the Bush Administration in negotiating the release of the 24 captured American spies, the Chinese media has a different view on this situation. In reading the online reports from The People's Daily Newspaper from Beijing, the reporters on that side of the waters have analyzed the pattern of U.S. imperialist hegemony and how the U.S. government is accustomed to staking out its claims and catalyzing conflicts around the world on its terms while reprimanding other countries that criticize or challenge its superpower status and authority.

 

Such bold assertions and analyses have forced the Bush Administration to lose face on the international playing field as China stands firm in its determination and willingness to challenge the U.S. and its policies.

 

For a non-white, non-Europeanized nation to 'stand up' to the U.S. and call them on their actions is a liberating act in and of itself because it conveys a certain audacity and conviction that this country is not willing to allow its territories and its sovereignty to be threatened or intimidated by a so-called superpower bully that has literally orchestrated and masterminded the rules of The New World Order and how it should operate (vis-a-vis globalization).

 

China is not perturbed by the U.S. threats of barring them from having a seat on The World Trade Organization, hosting the 2008 Olympic Games and other tools of intimidation used by the U.S. to get China to succumb to its demands. The U.S. is threatening to ship military weapons to Taiwan in which will no doubt anger and provoke the Chinese as it considers Taiwan to be a province of China and which could spawn a major military confrontation in that region as a result of this U.S. action.

 

Here lies another clear example of our country's interference and instigation of regional conflict which triggers further distrust and discord amongst nations and peoples for the purpose of protecting and maintaining America's economic hegemony and security interest. Such a decision to ship arms to Taiwan couldl catalyze a military crisis in the Pacific realm amongst other countries as they will be forced to question their alliances and security measures not to mention the possibilities of an all out war.

 

Last summer, I had presented an article to one class of students I worked with in Japan at a progressive organization that entailed the Pentagon's focus on Asia. We discussed the implications of such an article and its construction which was carried in The Los Angeles Times last year. One of the reasons given for the shift by the Pentagon was to be prepared for the threat of 'a rising nation in the East that would be a competitor of the United States and which could pose a threat to Asia'.

 

China was used as a hypothetical case. Thus, the recent bullying and bashing of China by the new Bush Administration should not be surprising since it clearly affirms the Pentagon report about its Asian focus and the modus operandi of constructing another 'yellow peril' of fear and suspicion in this country towards Chinese people. This could be another replay of the Japanese-American fears of WWII when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. government relegated all Americans of Japanese nationality or citizenry 'the enemy' thus relocating them to concentration camps around the country.

 

Although we are not engaged in any immediate war with China (beyond words), there is great potential for another mainstreamed manufactured media consent to develop with regard to Chinese people both in China and in this country as a result of the language and analyses that goes on via our newspapers, televisions and radios regarding this incident. Unfortunately, our mainstream media does not offer the objective and balanced perspectives we sorely need as Americans due to a lack of intercultural sensitivity and diplomacy with regard to other nations and particularly when it comes to nations of color.

 

If any one of us closely examine the products in our homes right now, we may be amazed at the fact that possibly 1 out of 5 products we pick up in our kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms may be marked "Made In China". As African-Americans, many of us don't think about the political ramifications of our consumerism and how this could very well impact our relations and deepen our understanding of China and the U.S. trade dynamics at work. We are now witnessing for the first time in a very long time another country of color standing up to the white man (and puppets of color) by denouncing U.S. military aggression.

 

Perhaps we need to listen carefully to what the Chinese people are saying at this given time because it is now clearly evident that China is a power rising to international prominence and economic trade in this 21st Century. While the U.S. and other European nations criticized China's human rights and labor record, the Chinese were quick to develop a full report on the human rights abuses in the U.S. for the world to witness.

 

It is not a matter of which country has the worst human rights record or the most questionable labor standards. What clearly matters is the fact that the United States has no right to hypocritically judge another country's human rights record when our own is seething with discrimination, exploitation, violence, racial profiling, police brutality, high incarceration rates of black and brown people along with the criminalization of the poor and homeless.

 

We have no right to judge China's track record under such blatant conditions when we have no credible or sustainable track record of our own.

 

After days of wrangling with words and linguistical interpretations of the word 'apology', President Bush finally issued a letter of apology to the Chinese government via the U.S. Ambassador to China, Joseph W. Prueher. The Chinese got what they wanted from the U.S. which resulted in the U.S. losing a tremendous amount of international face not to mention their so-called mythical superpower status.

 

The 24 service men and women are now at home in the U.S. after receiving praise and a heroic welcome with a stamp of approval by George W. Bush but the U.S. government is now blaspheming China for the scenario while proudly stating that they did not really apologize. Such shameless and ruthless diplomacy illustrates what oppressed people in this country have been enduring for generations: a system of government that does not have the balls to stand up and take responsibility for its actions, its atrocities, its heinous crimes against humanity and its social contradictions not to mention its blatant policies of institutionalized oppression.

 

Whenever oppressed or marginalized people resist or challenge the U.S. government and policies, they are made to feel as if they are the ones to blame for their conditions and circumstances and that none of this lies with the cyclic generational institutions of racism, sexism, classism and all other isms that keep people oppressed and exploited within the American Experiment. What would happen if the critical masses rose up from within the bowels of the United States en masse to challenge this hegemonic system the way China recently did (and will continue to do)?

 

What would happen if people (out of a need for a different social and economic model) began to align their social agenda with China in a way that emphasized the need to invest in social and human development while strongly encouraging China to democratize in the name of people before profits thus catalyzing a global movement for social change, human rights and responsibility? When we step foot in another Chinese restaurant, visit another Chinatown or purchase another product made in China, how can we begin to evolve to another level of recognition and understanding with regard to China and the U.S.?

 

Why has our society been flooding us with products and goods from China and Chinese hands over the years if China has an oppressive human and labor rights record? Rather than relying on our mainstream media for answers, it will be vitally important for us to begin to seek out our answers via collective engagement and discourse about the trade relations (and recent fear) by the United States and other allied nations towards China.

 

The last thing our government would want any of us to do as Americans and particularly as people of color is to unite and build strategic coalitions across race and borders for this poses a tremendous threat to the economic and security stability of the United States and its bastions of power.

 

Therefore, it is deemed safer and less subversive to encourage the 'shop till you drop' consumerist mentality - packing our shelves and homes with items "Made In China" while discouraging any form of inquiry and debate about the hypocritical and covert role of our government and corporations in China's labor and human rights practices.

 

How can the United States be concerned about China's human rights when American corporations and factories have been setting up shop in China (and elsewhere in Asian developing nations) to exploit cheap labor, wages and products in the name of globalization and American economic success? What would be China's future policies and blueprint regarding human rights and labor standards as they rise to international dominance and military power eye-to- eye with the United States?

 

As African Americans, we have a great deal at stake here because there is not enough discussion on globalization and its impact on our lives in the context of the U.S. because we are not encouraged to make such linkages or to even question our relationship to people of Asian descent despite the fact that Asia currently plays a significant role in the world of economics, trade, militarism and politics. Asia is at a major economic and political turning point and accelerated capitalism is whipping Asian nations to mirror the values and decadent tastes of middle and upper-class white folks.

 

It is globalization at its peak and a region where globalization, oppression and cultural imperialism of Western values is most at work. One of the most disturbing elements I witnessed during my most recent sojourn to Japan was the impact of extreme capitalism and Americanization on the lives of Japanese people.

 

There are over 5,000 homeless people in Tokyo alone in the midst of extreme consumerism, environmental waste, degradation and wealth. In addition, the patriarchal mainstream media which has roots in traditional patriarchal culture coupled with exploitative Westernized values has sexualized females so severely until there is an overall acceptance and complicity of misogyny and female exploitation on all levels of society. Suicide rates and youth violence is on the increase in addition to an overall lack of vision by politicians and leaders coupled with corruption.

 

Yet, as always, I witnessed that overarching patronizing hand of white European/American expansion and an overall post-modernized colonization of the Japanese minds - hakujin (white) complex - that values whiteness as supreme and virtuous which is largely attributed to Japan's defeat in WW2.

 

Yet, China will never forget Japan's atrocities during WW2 and the barbarous rapes and killings in Nanking by Japanese soldiers. But the United States occupies Japan and South Korea as a military presence watchdog for the rest of Asia.

 

Such socio-political dimensions weigh heavily when superpowers are threatened and new rising powers flex their muscles to determine the course and agenda of the international community. Thus, it is not a matter of whether we should trust or follow the lead of China based on whether our government dictates us to do so, but we should rather be learning more about the history and relationship between our country and the Pacific realm countries in the coming months so as to be prepared for the next phase of Pacific scenarios that are about to transpire.

 

For now, perhaps we would all be wise to question our own consumption and assumptions across race, class and conscience to determine where we stand on the issues and how we are, in fact, being used as silent pawns in the game of economics and trade.

Teresa Williams is a freelance writer and has recently returned from teaching in Japan. She is currently residing in the DC/Metro area. You may visit her website: Sojourner Communications. You can visit her website at: http://www.livegem.net/sojournercommunications. She can be reached at: sojournertw@yahoo.com

 

 

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This article was published courtesy of Teresa Williams.

Copyright © 2001 Teresa Williams. All rights reserved.

 

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