Why China is Like Apartheid South Africa
China is not like Apartheid South Africa. However, there are some uncomfortable similarities.
Last night I went out to dinner with a few friends, one of who was born in South Africa, but whose parents (with him) fled when he was a little boy for political reasons. One thing led to another and suddenly he was correcting me, that it is not only Afrikaners who remember the Apartheid days. On the contrary, he said that even his own parents, who themselves fled their motherland and left everything behind because they opposed the regime, still think back fondly of their days in South Africa.
He started to explain how this contradiction was possible. Even as his parents knew about the horrible things that their government was doing to its own people, their own lives were easy and comfortable. South Africa is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and if you have money it was easy to ignore the indignities that were occurring. Apartheid was specifically designed to separate the poor (black majority) from the rich (white minority). It was easy not to see the other side because they were not there. This does not mean that they did not oppose what the government was doing. They did so much that they had to move. Yet they still are able to remember the good aspects of their life there.
This situation does not completely describe China, but again, there are some uncomfortable parallels. South Africa had a system of systematic oppression. Except for a few pockets, and you should know what I’m referring to, that does not exist in China. There is rampant corruption, but that is not actively perpetuated, and it is not by design. Nonetheless, even during this massive economic expansion, there are still huge numbers of people living in horrible poverty (often because labor standards are deliberately lax), there are human rights abuses taking place on political ground, and in some places, there is persecution based on ethnicity and religious persuasion. And yet most people reading this can easily ignore it. Very, very easily. And 20 years from now they will undoubtedly look back at their time in China fondly.
Now, before China apologists begin to point out that America has a spotty record itself, I will concede this point. Guantanamo Bay has been a disaster, and there have almost certainly been human rights abuses in secret prisons abroad. However, there are mechanisms within the US government to counteract this. In fact, these practices are illegal in America, despite what some (very powerful) people may assert. At the same time, while these practices by parts of the government are abhorrent, they are also extremely rare. Accounts of China indicate that is probably not the case here.
As I sit in my Beijing apartment, with my wireless internet, and all my other amenities, the worst poverty of China is far out of sight. It’s true there are people with much less money living nearby, but most of them lead reasonably good lives. The real poor of country overwhelmingly are in the rural areas, significant distances from the capital.
Again, one could easily argue that the same situation exists in the US, and most people ignore it, and they would be correct. People who can afford to tend to stay out of ‘bad neighborhoods,’ and manage to live their lives far away from the most impoverished areas of the inner city and rural countryside. On this count, I think critics have a fairer argument, because it is hard to believe that America, the biggest economy of the world, has such enormous pockets of poverty. It is a complete embarrassment, and it should not be acceptable. But negligence and deliberate oppression are morally inequivalent, hopefully anyway.
Political oppression is the more relevant point here. China, like South Africa 20 years ago, has a bit of a problem (to put it mildly) on this front. And yet, we live happy lives, and easily ignore the unpleasantness.
So I don’t want to go nuts about this analogy, because as I said in the first sentence, China is not like Apartheid South Africa. But some of us are still making a decent living off a morally questionable system. And isn’t it easy to ignore what you don’t want to see?
Share This
nanheyangrouchuan responds:
Posted: December 12th, 2007 at 9:59 am →
“South Africa had a system of systematic oppression. Except for a few pockets, and you should know what I’m referring to, that does not exist in China. ”
You mean like the hokou system? Where migrant workers are illegal immigrants in their own country, unable to access the courts, educational or social welfare systems of the big 5-7 cities that they flock to?
“There is rampant corruption, but that is not actively perpetuated, and it is not by design.”
Oh, no, Beijing wouldn’t lock up petitioners from the countryside so that they can’t petition the national courts, then turn them back over to the local authorities sent to retrieve these unpatriotic troublemakers and take them back to an unimaginable fate.
Jeremy responds:
Posted: December 12th, 2007 at 11:18 am →
Hey Josh,
Here I’ve got to agree with nanheyangrouchuan - oppression is systematic in China - it’s just not based on race. It’s based on class & one’s place in society instead. You can’t look at what China says (the laws and regulations ‘in place’), you must look at what they do. Even those brave enough to make a trip to Beijing to get a fair hearing are usually turned away.
Your main points are well taken - it can be easy to ignore the vast inequalities in China. To be honest, though, I’m not going to look back on my time in China and forget about the inequality here. If anything, I will rail against the system more once I’m out of China and the consequences are lighter (paranoid a bit?).
Also, while there are vast inequalities and injustices in America, if you want to fight your way out of poverty in America it is much easier than in China. On a scale of injustice toward an oppressed underclass, China is far closer to South Africa during Apartheid than today’s America.
If you are a migrant worker in China, how do you get a better education? How do you get a better job? How do you save up to give yourself or your kids a better life? The answers are: You don’t - there just isn’t enough money to be made or opportunities to be seized. The best you can do is send money back to your family in the countryside, giving them a better life now while you struggle just to survive.
This post is a tough one to tackle - and this and similar topics rarely draw much attention. (Example: 15 or so comments about what they are saying about us in the China blogosphere, 2 comments about this post.)
Amban responds:
Posted: December 13th, 2007 at 11:56 pm →
“…oppression is systematic in China - it’s just not based on race.”
Not so sure, but I would like to hear it from an Uighur or Tibetan before I believe it. Also, differences in Chinese dialects set people apart in a way that makes it easy to discriminate on the basis of regional origin. Open your mouth and speak in a Sichuan accent in Wuxi and you’ll know what I mean.
mike s. responds:
Posted: December 14th, 2007 at 1:38 pm →
Saying “like Apartheid South Africa” sure is incendiary, but isn’t what you’re saying the same thing that exists anywhere–liberal guilt? ‘Is it right to enjoy my material comforts and the pleasant life they provide, when there are people suffering all around me and I’m benefitting because society is systematically unequal…’ etc. etc.
Incidentally, Apartheid South Africa was a stratified caste system, where the position in life born into could not be changed, while China and most other places are a stratified class system, where changing your position is at least possible. That’s why Apartheid was morally unacceptable–it was its ideology, not the reality of material conditions on the ground.
Jeremy responds:
Posted: December 14th, 2007 at 6:04 pm →
Hey Mike - That’s a good point, but how possible for the typical Chinese person? Social mobility in China seems to be decreasing by the day.
Josh responds:
Posted: December 15th, 2007 at 12:55 am →
Probably I emphasized the class differences a bit too much. The real thought stemmed from political oppression.
student responds:
Posted: January 9th, 2008 at 3:02 am →
Josh: Get your point. What’s your plan of action?
Amban: I think you are mistaking “prejudice” with “discrimination” when you talk about accent.