ب [جوش] [غرتنر]

قد فاض بما أنّ يغرّب داخل الصين [إين رسنت رس], جيب من البلد يطوّر إحساس مستعمرة بوضوح. في الأجزاء متّبع آخر صيحة شنغهاي سيطرت ال [نيغتليف] بأجنبيات يعيش الخبرة [سمي-شنس], كثير بما أنّ بعض البريطانيوّن أتمّوا في إفريقيا وهند أثناء سنون يذهب جانبا. يصحّ, يحضر استعمار أن يبالي فرض عسكريّة, شيء بلا جدال يفتقد من الصين حديثة, غير أنّ هناك ومع ذلك حقيقة متضايق أنّ يكون جلّيّة أن يرى.

جعلت كثير يتلقّى يكون من الشقّ جزّ ضخمة من إسكان تقليديّة أنّ يتلقّى يكون دمّرت أن يجعل غرفة لإرتفاعات عال في بيجين (وفي مكان آخر), غير أنّ كم من أنّ قدت بالسوق ل [أوبسكل] `[وسترن-ستل]' إسكان? يكون مال كبيرة بمستثمرات صينيّة (كثير من من قد حصل قروض مظلّل), غير أنّ غالبا أجنبيات الأحد يقشر خارجا ال [يون] ل هم. بنايتي في بيجين [دونغزهيمن] منطقة على الأرجح 10-15% أجنبيّة, بينما المجاورة (ونوعا ما جديدة) مركبة يكون [كلوسر تو] 50 أو 60%. صحيحة خارج ي [15ث] أرضية نافذة البقية من ماذا كان مرّة كبير, أكثر [هوتونغ] مهتزّة (جوار تقليديّة). يجلس الصفوف مرتّبة من منازل [سنغل-ستوري] فقط إلى الشرق, يعني أنّ بظهر هم حرفيّا [إنسكنسد] في خيالتنا. صحيحة إلى ما بعد هم قالب من [كمّونيست-ستل] 7 أرضية بنايات يغطّى مع الرمز 拆, أيّ بما أنّ كلّ شخص خارجا هنا يعرف, يشير أنّ التقطت بناية يتلقّى يكون لتدمير.

حتّى في بعض ثاني صف مدائن أجنبيّة يثبت سيطرة داخل لجيّدة أو مريضة. In Dalian dozens of Japanese companies have established call centers taking advantage of the foreign language skills of local Chinese there as well as the city’s proximity to Japan. Certain neighborhoods are lined with Japanese restaurants that do not even have Chinese menus. Call it economic colonialism if you will.

And that’s just what you could argue is happening in the western half of Sichuan Province’s Chengdu. There are estimated to be more than 100 Fortune 500 companies with offices in the city, including Intel which invested nearly 400 million dollars there in its last round of China-binging (the deal now pales in comparison to its Dalian project). With that increased foreign presence, so too has the selection of bars, restaurants and hotels serving the re-located employees. Once one of the most traditional cities in the country, it now has one of the larger expat communities.

You may well argue that the good coming out of all of these developments far outweighs the negatives. And you would almost certainly be correct. Noted economists like Joseph Stiglitz have been extremely impressed with China’s ability to tweak the free market model to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Yet I am not arguing that FDI is bad, but rather using it to point out a broader overall trend. The inflow of investment, even as it reaches the point of irrational exuberance is undoubtedly a good thing.

The real question I am trying to look at is how well foreigners have integrated into a generally homogenized society (although one that is not nearly as much so as people generally believe). Think about the immigration debates in England, Germany, France and the US. Xenophobes have often cited the reluctance to learn the local language and customs to justify anti-immigrant sentiment.

In China efforts to ‘sinofy’ the foreign population is rarely given a second though. There is little push on either the side of locals or Westerners. Instead, most expat life in China takes place within the confines of familiarity. Even those who have made the effort to learn about the country and its culture often retreat to their own world of comfort, with western DVDs and bars, their Chinese ayis cleaning up after them, and local waiters and waitresses bringing them food.

Does that make us bad people? Certainly not. However the comfortable expat lifestyle in China still clearly hints of colonialism. Certainly it is less overt than what we have seen in years past around the world, and cultural hegemony has still not set in the way some might believe. And yet despite everything that rationally tells me nothing is wrong, there is nonetheless a lingering feeling in my mind that something is not quite right either. Perhaps the real problem is that I am apt to mistake liberal guilt for colonialism.

Josh Gartner, China Expat’s Daily Tea Leaves
ChinaExpat.com, ChinaExpat.com/blog/josh