China is a land of a billion people and by western standards, a place of questionable social policies and social control. Venturing through China’s expansive southwest province of Yunnan, we encountered China’s most culturally diverse area in terms of number of minority groups, or people of non-Han Chinese origin. Many of the minorities we met offered us their ethnic identity as to distinguish themselves from the Han Chinese, displaying an evident division. A couple young men even described how they had recently been beaten up by groups of Han Chinese men.
The Chinese government seeks cultural uniformity across its provinces, offers greater opportunity for communist party members and is on a rampage of development, replacing the ‘old’ with the ‘new.’ Amongst the Han and non-Han Chinese alike, there is a spectrum of feelings, to include outright support for government policy, mere acceptance, tolerance, quiet disapproval and active discontent. A billion people, a billion views!
One regular customer at a bar in Kunming, China seems to represent the dominant view of his boss, the Chinese government itself. As a People’s Liberation Army Major, he is one rank above mine when I was in the US Navy. He is Han Chinese, enjoys Dali beer and finds himself tolerated but not completely accepted – at least behind his back – by the other local clientele, including some other government workers and Communist Party members.
His English is remarkable, though slightly slurred from the booze. I learn he also speaks Nepali and Tibetan and likes to travel, though can only travel when on ‘business trips’ as he is a ‘man of high security’. When agreeing or acknowledging a point, he has the habit of saying ‘YuP!’ or ‘Uh, huH’, with dramatic inflection. I met him twice, once at the beginning of my time in China and once at the end. He is sharp. He remembers my name three weeks after we meet the first time.
I am interested in the drunken Major on an individual and systemic level, as a person and as part of the Chinese machine. When he mentions my former employer, my ears perk up. “How can the US and Chinese governments get along when the USS George Washington (aircraft carrier) operates in the Sea of Japan and could destroy Beijing within minutes?” Little does he know that I used to operate on the predecessor to the USS George Washington, the USS Kitty Hawk before it was decommissioned in 2008 from its home-base in Yokosuka, Japan.
From my past understanding, destroying Beijing within minutes is hardly realistic. However, I can certainly acknowledge the threat a foreign military poses when ‘meddling’ in regional waters. Ironically however, senior commanders on the USS Kitty Hawk used to believe that the ship wouldn’t last fifteen minutes if it was called to defend Taiwan against an invading China, provided its massive submarine fleet and missile presence.
China and the US are two countries that deeply distrust one another. The drunken major works towards the goals of his boss, just as I worked for the goals of the US Navy. In this way, we each represent/ed and perpetuate our respective government machines and their ideals.
Despite this, we remain individuals much more complex than the structures and influences from which we work and are bred. We represent a system, but will never be the system. We carry our own ideas, thoughts and perceptions. The drunken major is interested and intrigued by things often not associated with the Chinese military or government. He thinks about the meaning of life, humanity, religion and holds a keen interest in western history.
I feel the drunken major has been mislead by his government, probably more than the masses and others at the bar in Kunming, but he does not display the tendencies of a mechanical thinker of cold calculations. Rather he is curious, interested, if not at times intentionally provoking controversy and argument. He clearly buys into Chinese propaganda on Tibet and Japan, but also concedes points about inequality and pervasive corruption in China.
When individuals like the drunken major are so far removed from my daily life – in the Navy or not – and who are clearly influenced by different histories and ideals, it is easy and habitual to distrust one another, to stereotype and focus on disagreements. It is difficult to acknowledge the similarities and to recognize commonality that can help close the gap between such differences. Sitting opposite him, in this smoky bar, talking about the idea of humanity in war, portrayed in the movie ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ we connect.
If only we all had time to sit down and talk as you have and realize we are after the same thing. Things are a changing. Keep learning Ryan. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading Linda! It means a lot that you take the time.
This year has been a tremendous experience in terms of learning and gaining exposure to new and interesting people and places.
I think your comment is important! Taking the time, when home or abroad to know and understand the people around us can be so meaningful for both parties. It just takes time and a sometimes difficult willingness to initiate.
Ryan
Superb writing! I wonder if you have plans to be a journalist.
Nice of you to say Nick! I am not a writer but have certainly appreciated having the time and space this year to think about and write these pieces. I’ve gained a lot from the process as well as inspiration from Caleb and Michele’s amazing writing! I do miss their posts.
Thanks again,
Ryan