Josh Gartner著

国外居住者が中国に近年あふれてしまったと同時に、国のポケットは明瞭に植民地感じを開発した。 上海の最も粋な部分ではnightlifeは住んでいる外国人半中国の経験によって何人かのイギリスが行った年の間にアフリカおよびインドでしたように大いに支配される。 本当、植民地化政策は軍の賦課を、明らかに現代中国から逃す何か気にするために持って来るがそれにもかかわらず見るために明白の不快な現実がある。

多くは北京の高層ビルのために場所を空けるために(および他の所で)破壊されたが、それのどの位高級な`西部様式のための市場によって」ハウジング運転される従来のハウジングの巨大なswathsのなされたか。 大きいお金は中国投資家(多数の)によって影がある貸付け金を得た誰が行っているが、頻繁に外国人はそれらのための元を殻から取り出している物である。 北京のDongzhimen区域の私の建物は近隣(および幾分より新しい)複合体は50か60%に近い方にあるがおそらく外国10-15%である。 ちょうど外側は私の第15床の窓より大きいだったものの残り、より活気に満ちたhutong (従来の近隣)はかつてである。 single-story家の端正な列は正午によって私達の影で文字通り身を落ち着けることを意味する東にちょうど坐る。 それらを越えて公正建物は破壊のために選ばれたことを皆がここに知っているので、表示する特性の拆と散らかる共産主義様式の7床の建物のブロックはである。

ある第2層都市で外国の統治はよりよくかより悪いのために置いている。 大連にたくさんの日本の会社は日本への都市の近さと同様、ローカル中国語の外国語の技術をそこに利用するコールセンターを確立した。 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