An apparently anonymous poem is circulating online that gives voice to frustrated Chinese, who see their country as being criticized for no matter what it does by the West. I find the poem moving and not without a basis. For instance, one stanza reads, "When we have a billion people, you said we were destroying the planet. / When we tried limiting our numbers, you said it is human rights abuse." Read more of the poem on the FP Passport blog.
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I absolutely agree!
If you link to the FP article and read the full poem and/or watch the YouTube video (which requires a great of knowledge about modern Chinese history and the images move way too fast), it becomes clearer about the amount of hypocrisy existing on both sides of Sino-American relations.
It demonstrates that Chinese youth support their government when it stands up on the world stage (while they criticize it for its domestic corruption).
Yes, the U.S. in effect exports pollution to China (and other places) by way of offshore manufacturing. That pollution readily returns across the Pacific. (See the excellent article, “The Last Empire: Can the world Survive China’s Headlong Rush to Emulate the American Way of Life?”, in the Jan./Feb. “Mother Jones.”)
Yes, China, along with Japan and others, is propping up the U.S. economy.
I, for one, will show the video (stopping to explain many points) to my high-school students. They need to become aware of these issues, since Sino-American relations just might be the world’s most important.
Matt, thanks for posting this.