Chinasmack Diaspora: Are We Content to Let Our DNA Define US

Recently, my article entitled Are We Content to Let Our DNA Define Us was published on the blog Chinasmack.com.  Chinasmack's Diaspora series is a look at the personal experiences and perspectives of overseas Chinese communities.  You can read other articles in the series here.  

A Chinese friend once responded harshly when asked, "Are you Japanese?" by a young child who had approached him on the street. His response struck me as strange. After all, my identity was always a topic of discussion. As a child of a Chinese-American father and Caucasian mother, I looked neither. I have thick dark hair, a long nose, large eyes, and slightly colored skin. In fact, I was more often mistaken for Hispanic or Native American rather than Asian or white. My identity was discussed among close friends, acquaintances, and even with strangers who I bumped into in a bar or with whom I had a brief encounter on the street.

Plus, I got it all the time. Meeting someone for the first time usually meant that he or she might give me that slightly elongated, curious gaze, which was followed by an awkward "I'm sorry..I can't tell, are you [insert misconceived identity here]?" Or, in contrast, when meeting someone Asian, my appearance wouldn't merit a second glance, but my last name would always surprise them. "Wait…. why do you have a Chinese last name?" they might ask. In time, I got used to it, like a high school graduate who puts up with questions like "What are you going to major in? What do you want to do when you graduate from college?" You know people are good intentioned and genuinely curious, but when you answer the same question to all your relatives, family friends, teachers and random acquaintances, you still answer out of courtesy, but each time you draw a deeper sigh as you prepare your now well-practiced response.

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China and Mongolia

I recently took a trip to outer Mongolia.  A few reflections on the trip relative to its neighbor, China.

Population:

Mongolia has a population of only a few million, small compared to even a modestly sized Chinese city. Traditionally, the people lived a nomadic lifestyle, sprinkled throughout the countryside as they cared for their herds.  Like China, it is experiencing massive urbanization (now some half of the country's population is living in the capital, Ulan Bator).  For a view of Mongolia's changing demographic and economic landscape, Foreign Policy published a moving photo essay.

However, Inner Mongolia (the Chinese province) is experiencing a different dynamic.  Population pressures in the east and supportive policies have brought many ethnic Han Chinese to the area, vastly changing the racial dynamic and has become a source of tension between ethnic groups.  This should come as no surprise given the recent tensions there.  

Rural-Urban divide

With rapid urbanization, both China and Mongolia are experiencing a vastly changing  dynamic between the countryside and urban areas.   As higher paying jobs have shifted to the cities, both countries have rural workers coming to the cities to find work.  A brief walk around Ulan Bator reveals the sharp contrast between the slim, chic urbanites toting brand name bags, next to scruffy workers fresh from the grasslands, clothes tattered and torn, and skin worn from the sun.  

In China, this has been a trend for decades now.  Even today, country dwellers are evident through not only their dress, appearance, mannerisms and language, but also through their residential registration, which allocates resources such as education and healthcare to the populace based on geographic location.  

Hangovers from economic miracles

In the past few years, China has woken up to the bitter realities of its break-neck economic growth.  In addition to massive inequalities, corruption still permeates every aspect of the system, there is rampant pollution, poor city planning and to top it off, the food is unsafe.   Now that the source of China's economic miracle, its sea of cheap labor, is starting to dry up (see the Economist's recent report), these social and political problems present daunting structural problems that will need to be addressed in the coming years.   

While Mongolia's growth may be more recent, it is also adjusting to its newfound growth.  The influx of foreign mining companies into the country has sparked a debate of the role of foreign companies and capital in the country's development as well as how all of this recent wealth should be used.  Like China, wealth needs to be managed, especially given the rising inequality in Mongolia, as well as the need for services and infrastructure, especially in the rural areas.  Both countries need to be prepared for the next step in their development. For what does happen when minerals and low cost labor dry up?  At best, the societies will undergo difficult political and economic changes.  At worst, the societies will wake up to the disturbing reality that they have been fooled by the promises of economic openness and progress.