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 Just in case you may have been living under a rock for the last year there is an Olympic games very soon in China. In what is expected to be the most expensive Olympics ever Beijing will launch itself into the world limelight. With innumerable column inches devoted to the implications of the games it will be refreshing when the 8th August arrives and the games can get under way. However one issue seems to be prevalent for people of different ethnicity and nationality, that of identity.
Obviously the issue is a little more complex than who will you support in Beijing but it does serve as a convenient way of discussing peoples' views. It can certainly be a controversial issue as some believe the mainstream opinion in Britain hasn't changed much since the 1970s ‘whoever you support at the cricket is your nationality'.
For British Chinese the question would be which would make you more proud, a British gold medal or Chinese gold medal? There are numerous discussions on our forums here at Dimsum that discuss this subject, identifying nationality and ethnicity as separate and distinct. As someone whose nationality and ethnicity are the same I have always been interested which is more important to those people who have different nationality and ethnicity.
Nevertheless this topic is not as black and white as that. Certainly in China nationalism has risen amongst the mainland population especially after the Sichuan earthquake in May, and some feel this nationalism may be spreading to overseas Chinese. As I have said in previous articles, I was astonished at the reaction and unification of a whole nation when I was in China after the Sichuan earthquake. It was surprising because of the context it was in; comparing it to the USA's reaction to hurricane Katrina it highlighted a special relationship between the global Chinese. It would be fair to ask the question whether the earthquake and now the Olympics have brought the globe's Chinese population closer together.
As for the Olympics I have heard the issue of nationality and ethnicity likened to supporting your local club but also then following the national team at the same time, perhaps making it more understandable for those not in that position. With team China amongst the favourites to top the medals table the issue may become more prominent now than ever.
I for one hope simply for an entertaining 2 weeks of games and that politics will not overshadow the chance for the rest of the world to get an insight into China, and of course that Liu Xiang gets that gold medal!
Andrew Mellor |
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