Opinion | China must lay to rest its victim mindset over 'century of humiliation'
Alice Wu says the nation's collective psyche has been beleaguered by the turbulent events of the past century, but that narrative needs to change for people to move forward
With most of the world's powers turning their attention to carrying the burdens of history, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war is difficult when collective victimhood narratives overshadow the cheers of victory. Underneath, it is China's persistent pursuit of victimhood and insistence on monopolising the victim status that is psychologically preventing its people from moving forward. At its extreme, it's soul-destroying work.
As we try to grapple with today's Hong Kong, where radicalism and localism seem to be in the news more than most people are comfortable with, we must first recognise what lies beneath the recent surge of such movements.
It is an identity crisis, but it is also an offshoot of what I would call the narrative of China's "century of humiliation", which has arguably lasted too long. There is little to debate over the indignities China suffered. It once served as a rallying call for unity and reform, and for the Chinese people to grit their teeth and endure the pain of modernisation and engagement with the rest of the world.
China has been plagued by internal turmoil, so much so that VJ-Day did not usher in a time of peace for China. Many have argued that the country experienced the most tumultuous century in any country's history. The complexities and emotions that have played out in China's collision course with the rest of the world and its internal struggles have prolonged that humiliation narrative.
Many have tried to put an end to all that, but no one has succeeded. Chiang Kai-shek tried in 1945, Mao Zedong in 1949 and Jiang Zemin in 1997 with Hong Kong. Some saw the hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the realisation of China's "100-year dream" and an end to the humiliation. Some are still pinning their hopes on it ending with cross-strait unification.
Some saw the hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the realisation of China's "100-year dream" and an end to the humiliation
This is not to say the narrative was a "Chinese" creation. Deliberate acts of humiliation were inflicted on China, but by now it must be clear that they were used as the bedrock of the founding of modern China. It was a rallying call, a call for nationalism, and served as an easy political point of reference to fall back on.