Not Zero-Sum: Perspective of an Ordinary Chinese American
In the era of Trump/Putin/Xi, an ordinary Chinese American's hope for solidarity (Introduction)
(Source: Fulton County Jail; YouTube “Chinese Backstreet Boys — That Way” screenshot; Wikimedia Commons)
Introduction
The first contact came in 1784 when the US sent a new ship, the Empress of China, on a 18,000-mile journey from Boston to Canton, carrying ginseng and silver coins. Upon arrival, the crews found themselves, along with other foreigners, confined to a small area outside the bustling Chinese city. If it seems that everyone wants to migrate to the US today, everyone wanted to trade with China during the 18th century; China held the reins of trade as America does of immigration.
The next 50 years saw little interaction between the US and China—except for the few American merchant ships that crisscrossed the oceans—just two nations occupying similar coordinates in different hemispheres, one a storied civilization that had already been around for 5,000 years, the other an upstart experimenting with the promise of democracy.
In 1839, the first of two Opium Wars forcefully brought the fates of the East and the West closer together. Great Britain, as we will see, actually played a much greater role representing the West, but as a result of America’s rise in the 20th century, when the Chinese Communist Party prescribes its lessons and warnings from the Opium Wars today, it is with the US in mind.
This book traces the relationship between the US and China from the Opium Wars to current events. While it progresses chronologically mostly in the timeline of US-China milestones, it also includes personal anecdotes—not because they are groundbreaking revelations, but to relate how I formed my perspective as an ordinary Chinese American. If my immigration experience from China to the US exposed me to our differences at a young age, then the next few decades took me on a deeper journey in search of our commonalities.
For a while, it seemed the larger world was headed in a similar direction. But lately, my multicultural bearings have become increasingly at odds with the shifting winds in the political and diplomatic landscape. As the gap between personal connections and national relations widened, I found myself wanting to share an alternate path. In the chapters that follow, you will not find a tidy summary of why the other side is wrong. Unlike the more zealous experts and politicians, I don’t have the luxury to be guided by tribal loyalty or ride the wave of the latest gust, sweeping through the land. Instead, I’m planted squarely at the boundaries, with roots anchored in different expanses, joined by branches of histories taught in the Chinese and American classrooms, further diverged into thousands of sprigs—arms of governments, networks of media. While I too feel the brush of air, the swaying of narratives, it is the chemistry of everyday people—the light shining from East to West—that nourishes the soul, illuminating the kernel of truth inside each of us.
Chapter One: First Impression - The Opium Wars →
Introduction End Notes:
The historical account from the official website of American Embassy in China guided the narrative of the first interactions between the United States and China.