Some Chinese People are So Insecure!

"I don't know why Western people like Hong Kong so much," my colleague and Chinese translator said to me. As she spoke, and unbeknownst to her, her face tightened with redness and her body shifted from near center in the back of the taxi we were riding in together to her side almost completely. She was obviously upset with me.

But what had I said?

I had merely answered a spontaneous question from her asking if I liked Hong Kong. I said "yes, of course." I then quickly sought cover by saying another truth, that I also liked Shenzhen very much and had grown quite comfortable and contented here.

This unsettled reaction confirmed to me that the old cliché “body language speaks volumes,” was true.  If this had been a singular event I might have been left merely bewildered, but after another similar incident, my interest was suddenly peaked. I was left with one question in my mind.

Why are many Chinese Mainlanders insecure about Hong Kong?

University of Calgary sociologist David Beland defines "collective insecurity" of a people as "the state of fear or anxiety stemming from a concrete or alleged lack of protection." If this definition applies to Mainlanders, especially those living in regions with closer proximity to Hong Kong, then it must be asked; from what source does this anxiety stem? And, is there a sense of vulnerability emanate from it?

Sixteen years after the handover and roughly 30 years since Deng’s decision for economic change, social and economic interaction have converged Mainlander and Hong Kongese’ experiences with each other. This contact has inevitably led to comparisons both economic and social in nature.

Hong Kong social writer and blogger Jin Wong commented that the reason for this insecurity is that change has happened super-fast in China. Chinese used to suffer and now since the economy is "flying high," they want to "build up their own voice." Also, she said, the fact that "the rmb is appreciating against the HK Dollar has caused the people in Shenzhen to see themselves on a higher level, economically and socially." As such, this has meant that Hong Kong is slowly becoming more affordable for more Chinese and hence China more expensive for Hong Kongese.

While Wong’s assessment is interesting, another explanation for me hit closer to home. The many Americans living here might take note that what China is experiencing is not as alien as it seems.  Like China, America once measured its’ own progress by comparing itself to the outside world, specifically Britain in the early years of its history.   Colonial Americans preferred British products over their own. Likewise, many Chinese today prefer perceived “better quality” foreign designed products over their own.

Yet in spite of this, both countries have shared a profound sense of belief in themselves that transcends the current while looking ahead to greater things in the future.  Today, Chinese well perceive the larger role they are and will be playing globally both economically and politically.

Sometimes, however, this perception gives in to pause.

That brings me back to my Chinese colleague. In her own mind she had constructed a yardstick notion of where she thought China ranked with respect to the outside world. The comment that I liked Hong Kong meant that her measurements did not add up, at least in her own mind. So, she took offense.  More significantly, though,  was the fact that her question to me was not did I like Hong Kong better than China, but merely “do you like Hong Kong?”

The current narrative for China might then be read as follows.  Change has happened fast. One skin has been shed but the other has not quite yet grown to fit. It is the process of modern Chinese in “building up their voice.”

As such there is now something that I would like to tell my Chinese colleague. My message would be that in today’s globalized world change is a permanent condition.  Change always creates some degree of anxiety, and there is no protection from it. But it also is a fact that change aims for a better future. If this were not so then millions of foreigners now living in and embracing China would have never made the decision to come here.

Finally, how should this encounter with my colleague be judged in the greater sense? The answer is quite simple. It shouldn’t.  That is because there is nothing to judge. This world of warp speed change is hitting us all square in the face. And if there is one question that I can always expect to hear when I return home, it is this:

“Do you like China better than America?”