My China Reflections

Having known China from the policy briefs I encounter and decipher from the dossiers of the Department of Foreign Affairs while on my graduate study program in Foreign Service from the Lyceum of the Philippines University, what I have seen upon stepping on my first historic visit to China made me want to uncoil what I have been bombarded with and retrace the steps before I have come to some pertinent conclusions as a graduate student in early 2001.

The China that I used to know was perennially poor, all-too rigid and people are stiff. All my perspective of China was all gray and black. Never as colourful and always with a tinge of strictness and the Chinese people are very much akin to its militaristic past but all these were proven wrong. I was wrong and what I have seen and lived in my entire stay in China completely erased my previous notion of what China is today.

Since day one, when we arrived in Guangzhuo, all the place and people were abuzz with the upcoming Asian Games. You can see flyers and tarpaulins heralding the coming of the Asian Games and even our official airline, the China Southern Airline is the official airline for the Asian Games is continuously playing the advertisements about the games in-flight and the crew on board are as friendly as most I have met on my travels overseas. It has never retained in me that one Chinese person I have met that resembles what my previous preconception of them. All of them were smiling and full of happy spirits. This is very unlike what I have read about human dynamics in the past during the times in 1948 and those of Chairman Deng Xiaoping. I say the Chinese people now have immense confidence on their government and how they have lived their lives in the new millennia.

Upon arriving past 10 in the evening in Guangzhuo, China, I have had the urge to eat late dinner and what an immense impression again was left in my mind. China has KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks and mostly western-styled conglomerates which are the hallmarks of commercialism and to a farthest extent, imperialism. I observed that while we were eating snacks or meals in these establishments, all crew were able to speak few English, another hallmark of the west. Call that globalized linguistic parallelism in which workers, in order to converse well and be understood, adapt to the universality of the language currency. Even Japan and Korea are best examples of this phenomenon.

When we were in China for the China-ASEAN Young Leaders Training, I was expecting nonetheless, of immense exposure to rural areas, where traditional houses of peasants and the vestiges of rural poverty is well around the corner but again, I was wrong. We had been housed comfortably in the China Guangxi International Youth Exchange Institute. The rooms were like of a 5-star hotel, replete with centralized airconditioning unit, cold and hot showers with tub, clean linens, comfy pillows and carpeted floors from the hallway up to our rooms. Even the room key cards are highly technological, of which most hotels in the Philippines will be pale in comparison.

The classes we have had in China were held in well-maintained lecture and academic halls where microphones and interpreters on stand by. We have felt we are somewhere in the West, very much unlike what we have seen to be in China but again, we were wrong. I was wrong. I experienced all the comforts we have had while having our academic lectures. Again, what we have seen there is nowhere to be found near to even the University of the Philippines.
The most distinct impression on me was on the several occasions we audience during the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, Guangxi. It was where we have seen China economically, outside the confines of the lectures we have received from esteemed Chinese economists and scholars. I have seen how China was and is continually ready to do business regionally and bilaterally with the Philippines and Cambodia . We have seen Chinese businessmen undertaking linkages and networking with visiting investors in the Hall of the People in Guangxi, the venue of the CABIS. I have seen them share a cigarette and talk business. This is not strictly politics but rather strictly and formally business.

On our trip to Beijing, I have observed how China is micro-managing inter-regional and sub-regional migration among Chinese. At the Nanning Domestic Airport up until we have arrived in Beijing, I observed that the immigration counters are busy perusing internal and external travel documents of people from place to other. To my interpretation, this has been done to ferret out legitimate workers from those who will only a burden to progressive cities. If you have a skill in China, then you work and get employed. Many constructions of buildings and houses were impressively high and robust. This indicates how the Chinese economy is forever booming amidst the Asian economic crisis and the impending fall of the Euro currency and the economic meltdown in Europe.

While in Beijing, I have seen how busy streets are and how the economy is helping people help themselves.

The Bird’s Nest speaks of the grandeur that is of China today. I need not elaborate as mostly of us, have seen and witnessed the 2008 summer Olympics.

In a visit to Guilin City, I was fascinated at how the river cruise has served both local and international tourists, but mostly, local tourists. The government has been successful in integrating local tourism to the international appeal of Guangxi amidst its most popular destinations like Xiamen, Shanghai and Beijing.

A visit to a county in Guilin City left me awe-struck. I was impressed at how paved their roads were leading to their already concrete houses of peasants who were growing pomelo and small varieties of melons. I am further impressed at the fact that the same county we visited hosted to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and even the President of an African country and some delegations from Japan. It’s a complete presentation of what a society can gain if we cooperate with each other especially in agriculture and food production. That same county is by a large extent, producer of Chinese marble, very much priced in China.

Upon my return to the Philippines, I was left wanting. I want to know China more. Wanted to taste how local their lives are and experience firsthand how the Chinese people respond to adversity, challenges, trials and potential hiccups in the economy. I wanted to do research in its academic institutions and see how elementary pupils get education. I wanted to see more of the countryside and learn how peasants cooperate for progress. I wanted to see how they do business all the time, daily and on time. But some experiences has to momentarily end. I say I have come back to reality in the Philippines and ask myself, how can we always do business and how our government can better respond to our collective and societal dreams. This made me think if one thing needs to be reformed or perhaps transformed in our manner of dealing with the economy, governance, public service and basically, how individually we can help our country grow. My experiences in China not only corrected my wrong views of China in its entirety but also opened my eyes at how poorly we are managed even in our proud democracy. It has dampen my own perspective of how this Republic can ever withstand the growing demands of a poor population and addressing the gnawing pressures of poverty which for years have not been appropriately addressed. I am impressed of China but remain hopeful for the Philippines.

A letter to Hong Kong (August 29, 2010)

Sadly, as things turned sour and our friendship affected, we tend to reflect. Is life really worth fighting for? Embracing what our national hero, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino once illustriously said and I asked: Are we really truly “worth fighting for”? I say yes. All of humanity is truly worth fighting for. I apologize for how poorly the hostage crisis was handled by the government. Indeed, there were lapses as we see it unfold. Lives, eight precious lives of our beloved friends were lost. Lost not because they could have wished for it but it was lost because someone decided it for them beyond their own control and beyond God’s will. We see this event unfurled before our very eyes. I pray for their soul and may they rest in peace.

Sometimes, I also wonder why our President behaved the way he did during and after the crisis. Taking it as it was, I say, he was caught off guard, nothing much prepared him for such inevitable situation and we are so sorry. He was ridiculed, seen as insensitive and irked many because of his insensitivities on what has just happened. I, myself is not happy of what he has made of himself on this crisis. I am contend that he has made amends and apologized.

As a Filipino, I never condone such unspeakable attack on innocent civilians, who came to my country to see how it is, feel the hospitality of our people and yet, tragically experienced the end of their lives. These friends could have lived well, productive lives in their homes now but all is lost. Their lives are lost and we truly, as a nation, as a Filipino are sorry for what has happened.

As a Filipino, I appeal for sobriety, calmness and openness of mind. Let not the blunder of some few handicapped policemen be the sole yardstick of our flourishing bilateral relations. China and the Philippines have enjoyed the friendliest of relations, including that of Hong Kong, home to our fellow Filipinos who worked tirelessly to be of significant help to you my friends. I worry for them not because they might lose their jobs but I worry for them because they too, like other OFWs, have their families to feed back home. If they are in danger in Hong Kong, what will become of their families? I say this out perhaps of desperation that our contract workers in Hong Kong may be without jobs or are now on the verge of losing their jobs. They, like you my friends, are humans, who are innocent bystanders of this horrendous and unfortunate crisis.

Truly, I valued your emotions and I felt it. I felt it when my parents passed away. I can feel your pains because you, among our neighbours are one of our closest. We shared culture, language, and many more. I never speak Chinese but I have friends who can and are Chinese. I am proud of them. Most of them even have their forefathers hailed from Mainland China and Hong Kong. Our ties are strong, let us not cut it so abruptly that it will cost us our lives too. Our lives are intertwined. Filipinos work in Hong Kong homes and offices and Filipino families are better off because of the help of our Hong Kong friends and their employers. We are better as friends and we continue to be. We shared everything. As I have said, we are like brothers and sisters, and by it, we share your pains and we felt it much more like you do. This is an unfortunate event that tested us, our spirit and our bond.

I say we have made everything worked out just as it seemed. I apologize for what have happened and seek your understanding for failures of our policemen including our own lapses in not securing the lives of our friends. As they rest in peace, let us send them love. Love where no hatred can ever break. Love where we can heal the wounds inflected by this hostage crisis. Love where we can move on as one, Hong Kong and Manila, Filipinos and Chinese.

I, like many Filipinos demand the same explanation, accountability and sensitivity from our President and those who are involved. We share your indignation and your outcry. We share your pains and your sorrow. I felt the agony of losing someone we hold dear. Losing a father, mother, son, daughter and a friend feels like our world stopped altogether. We felt helpless, pained, robbed and abandoned. We, as a nation, felt it too. We felt the shame of not being able to protect everyone, Filipinos and our guests alike in this crisis. We felt the shame of not being able to act swiftly to save the lives of these innocent friends. We felt the anger you now feel because of this fiasco. But, we stand firmly and side by side with you and of Hong Kong as we move on together. We live our lives as one; we can carry on as one too.

Let peace reign between our shores and our two peoples. We have more to share and learn in this life and yes, we are all “worth fighting for”, of which, I am sure, our President has bravely fought.