Hong Kong superstar Charmaine Sheh mistakenly liking a social media post about the protests resulted in a flood of criticism by mainland Chinese netizens.
Posted on 07/03/2019 10:09:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Three years ago, I met a girl at a nightclub in Coventry, England, where many ethnic Chinese students – from mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and elsewhere – often gather. We arranged to meet up the next day for a formal date.
The vibes were good at the start. Arrived on time. Greetings. Drinks and snacks. And then, at some point, I innocently uttered the phrase: “Because we from Hong Kong…”
My date, from mainland China, swiftly interrupted me. She raised her voice and eyebrows, signaling how angry she was. She rapped the table with her fingers and snapped: “Stop saying you are from Hong Kong. You are Chinese and from China.”
She became sensitive and cranky. We both tensed up.
Three years ago, I met a girl at a nightclub in Coventry, England, where many ethnic Chinese students – from mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and elsewhere – often gather. We arranged to meet up the next day for a formal date.
The vibes were good at the start. Arrived on time. Greetings. Drinks and snacks. And then, at some point, I innocently uttered the phrase: “Because we from Hong Kong…”
My date, from mainland China, swiftly interrupted me. She raised her voice and eyebrows, signaling how angry she was. She rapped the table with her fingers and snapped: “Stop saying you are from Hong Kong. You are Chinese and from China.”
She became sensitive and cranky. We both tensed up.
Our conflict soon caused a series of clashes between me and the wider ethnic-Chinese student community on campus SHARE I decided not to say “Hong Kong” for the rest of our conversation. But she wouldn’t let it go.
She derisively attributed Hong Kong people’s denial of our Chinese identity to our low self-esteem. In her mind, people from mainland China seem to be smarter and more financially secure than their Hong Kong counterparts.
I decided to slump back in my seat and just listen in order to avoid any further misunderstanding or quarrels. Before long, we both finished our food and drinks.
We left the cafe and headed home separately without even saying goodbye.
By the end of that day, I learned she had blocked me on both WhatsApp and WeChat. But the story wasn’t over.
Our conflict soon caused a series of clashes between me and the wider ethnic-Chinese student community on campus.
Similar to what happened to Frances Hui, the Emerson College student who penned a column titled “I am from Hong Kong, not China,” somehow Chinese students from my university began gossiping about me on a WeChat group for students who spoke Chinese.
I learned that many overseas mainland Chinese students were dissatisfied with the Hongkongese reluctance to embrace their Chinese identity. To be precise, mainland Chinese students became disgruntled if Hong Kong students claimed to be anything other than exclusively Chinese.
To be fair, the ire went both ways. I sometimes overheard Hong Kong students ridiculing mainland Chinese students and even in engaging in what I’d consider hate speech against them.
Some of these snobby Hong Kong students believe they are superior to their mainland Chinese counterparts.
For me, personally, I try to avoid judging people by their nationality, ethnicity or religious affiliation. I judge a person based on their personality.
Rather than saying I am indifferent to the tug of war between Hong Kong and mainland Chinese identities, I always try to identify myself as both Hongkongese and Chinese.
From an ancestral perspective, my grandparents moved to Hong Kong from southeast China. Since before the Qin dynasty, Hong Kong has had an influx of Han Chinese people.
Being from a Han Chinese-dominated city, Hongkongese, including me, can never deny the origin of our roots. And I do not find it necessary to do so.
From a political perspective, however, the entrenched political tension and sensitivity a Hong Kong identity implies are major determinants of the poor relationship between mainland Chinese and Hongkongese populations.
But the mere existence of a Hong Kong identity seems to worsen relations between mainland Chinese and Hong Kong locals.
This month, the backlash against the Hong Kong government’s proposal to enact an extradition law has further aggravated anti-mainland Chinese sentiment in Hong Kong.
The proposed bill, which has been suspended, was meant to allow suspected criminals in Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China, among other places, prompting concerns that it would facilitate the Chinese government’s persecution of anti-Beijing camps in the city.
Hong Kong superstar Charmaine Sheh mistakenly liking a social media post about the protests resulted in a flood of criticism by mainland Chinese netizens. Clearly, this indicates they’re unhappy with they perceive as an anti-Chinese movement.
Though I always try to be equally proud to be Hongkongese and Chinese, I often find it, especially in recent years, utterly impossible to claim both due to the current political climate.
If Beijing continues to fail to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy and sovereignty, Hongkongese in general will develop further anti-mainland Chinese sentiments and deny their Chinese identity.
On the other hand, if Beijing starts to reduce its meddling in the city, then Hongkongese would try to ask for further rights, such as the exercise of universal suffrage.
Whether I am Hongkongese or Chinese is more than a personal preference.
The current political atmosphere will increasingly compel Hong Kong citizens to self identify as one or the other exclusively.
I am still undecided. In my own mind, I am Hong Kong Chinese. And I will keep this identity for as long as I can.
Who would be proud of being from a country that harvests organs from LIVING political opponents..?
The Chinese demon has been unleashed for some time.
German-Americans had to eventually decide what they were:
German or American
Seems like Hongkongese will make that choice soon too.
Obviously, the sensitivity runs high.
I have to say I don’t quite get it. I imagine a similar conversation here:
Me: “Because we from Massachusetts ...”
She: “Stop! You are American! From the United States! Stop saying Massachusetts!”
If the man in the article had said “We from Sichuan ...” would she have also erupted? Is she trying to erase the island of Hong Kong? Seems like it.
Why is the West allowing Communist “students” into their countries?
My advice is to skip the drinks, snacks, and chat. If she won’t just hop in the sack, move on.
When the lease was up the Brits should have returned Hong Kong to the lawful government of all China in exile in Taiwan.
Or just pointed out that the dynasty they made the agreement with no longer existed and so they were under no obligation to its usurpers.
Either way...
For that matter, get rid of any girl who, on a first date, displays any anger period. Believe me, things will only get worse.
How does this work in "speed dating?"
I don’t get it either. Can’t you be from Hong Kong and China? Aren’t the city of Hong Kong and the New Territories considered a province or administrative division of China nowadays?
Is it a cultural thing among ethnic Chinese people, that you are different if from Hong Kong or Taiwan?
"My affections were first for my own country, and then, generally, for all mankind..." Thomas Jefferson, referring to Virginia.
Wait til the Red Chinese tanks roll into Hong Kong and make it Chinese by force. All the protestors will end up dead or in slave factories making toys for McDonald’s happy meals. Someday soon we will discover the evil that is Red China.
Communism and Islam are similar in that you MUST submit.
I don’t care one way or another. What I do care about is when people bring their old baggage with them to a new country.
Hong Kong and Taiwan aren’t communist, yet.
That’s the rub.
I don’t understand why the USA does business with the evil regime in Beijing.
We need a total trade embargo on that regime and we need to arms the heck out of the Free People of Taiwan!!!
It’s hard to take the Red Chinese seriously as being Chinese when they accept a mad ravings of a 19th Century German as their intellectual and philosophical progenitor.
My husband (retired USMC) thinks the Communists will invade and occupy Hong Kong before the end of the year.
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