Views > January 2, 2007 > Web Only

A View on Pelosi from a World Away

Chinese students are less than impressed with Nancy Pelosi’s fight for human rights in their country

By Mike Levy

A world away from FOX News and the Daily Show, from political pundits and the New York Times, from advertising and blogging—I found insight into the new Democratic Congress.

I watched the U.S. election results come in while sitting in my office at Guizhou University, the largest school in China’s poorest province. The university, like most things in China’s vast interior, is oversized and underfunded. Forty thousand students pay the equivalent of 500 dollars a year for standing-room-only access to their classes and a bunk-bed in a dilapidated dormitory (eight students per 100 square-foot room). This modest sum is far more than many Chinese families can afford; they borrow money, sell heirlooms, and somehow scrape together what is needed to get their kids through school. Gui Da, as the school is locally known, boasts a brand new Confucian Studies Center and a massive soccer stadium, both of which were funded directly by Beijing. It has a library, though students cannot check out the books. The Foreign Language Building—where I teach American literature and conversational English—has no heat, failing electricity and reeks of feces.

At Gui Da I sometimes feel like I am on another planet. But here my newfound political insight came from something I never would have expected: my students’ passionate distaste for the new House majority leader, Nancy Pelosi.

I teach sophomores, juniors, and post-graduates. For the most part, they are hard-working, thoughtful and pay close attention to news from America. As the election results came in, a group of them gathered in my office. They wanted to understand why I was glued to the Internet, updating CNN.com every few minutes as the polls closed.

“Do Americans really vote?” asked a student who goes by the English name Work Horse.

“Some do, some don’t,” I responded. “It’s about half and half.”

Work Horse is short and handsome. He sports a Harry Potter haircut. When he speaks English, his body tenses in concentration, though his face remains expressive. “We also vote in China,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “We are forced to. But the results are already decided. The voting is just a show.”

Another student, rail thin and with bangs shading her eyes, quietly added, “We never really even know who we are voting for.”

I’ve heard this, or versions of it, from many of my Chinese friends. “American-style democracy is quite a bit different,” I said with a nod of my head.

“But … ,” Work Horse paused. “Recently your President was not chosen by the people. George Bush lost the election in 2000 but was made the leader. This seems very Chinese to me.”

“Well … ,” Now it was my turn to pause. “That was complicated.” I often find myself in discussions with students who are halfway to being well informed. Adding the other half of the necessary information can be challenging. Before I could elaborate on my answer, however, Work Horse changed the subject.

“I am very unhappy with the American results so far.” He was looking over my shoulder at my computer screen.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“If the Democrats win, Ba Lo Sea will have too much power.”

This surprised me. My students know about the major American politicians—George Bush, the Clintons, even Condi Rice and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Nancy Pelosi (pronounced Ba Lo Sea in its Chinese rendition)—why would a competent though hardly out-of-the-ordinary student like Work Horse know who she is?

“All of our newspapers are reporting about her. She is very against China.”

I stuttered into a response. “Umm…. why do you say that?”

Work Horse was staring out the window with a look in his eye that let me know he was reciting an article he had recently read. My students generally have a remarkable ability to memorize and recite, verbatim. “Ba Lo Sea has voted against giving China Most Favored Nation status 10 years in a row. Yet she has never been to China. How can she vote against the Chinese people, whom she does not even know?”

I blinked at Work Horse. I will never cease to be amazed at how closely my students follow American news. “I must admit I didn’t know that,” I told him. The latest results flashed on the computer screen, distracting my attention. “Come back tomorrow, Work Horse, and we can talk some more.”

The next day, my office was packed with students interested in discussing the election. The hot topic was, once again, Speaker Pelosi, and she was the object of intense criticism. Zhong Fu, a morose philosophy major, told me, “She has always hated China.” Many of the other students nodded at this. Work Horse’s girlfriend added: “The newspapers are telling us the full story. She has criticized our China for her entire career.” Adjectives like “imperialist”, “arrogant” and “hypocrite” were thrown about. At the end of the office hour, one student shrieked, “Ba Lo Sea doesn’t even want China to have the Olympics!”

Much of what my students have read in the Chinese news is true. For more than a decade, Ms. Pelosi has spoken passionately about human rights abuses in China. Her career in the House began just two years before the Tiananmen Square massacre. As the representative of California’s 8th Congressional district— a section of San Francisco with a significant Chinese-American population—she had a responsibility to speak out. Pelosi, still relatively new in Washington, fought hard against the George H.W. Bush White House, which was seeking to ignore the cold-blooded murder of more than 4,000 Chinese civilians, many of whom were students of about Work Horse’s age. Despite vigorous opposition from the Bush team, the House of Representatives voted 403-0 in favor of a Pelosi bill supporting Chinese students studying in America. The Senate passed the Pelosi bill by voice vote a day later. The Chinese government was infuriated, saying they would not “swallow this bitter pill.”

Pelosi’s victory was short lived; President Bush vetoed her bill (though he simultaneously signed an executive order allowing Chinese students facing repression back home to extend their visas). Nevertheless, she was galvanized by the overwhelming response she received. She became a champion for human rights in China, and a persistent thorn in the side of those who wish to ignore the more brutal sides of the Chinese regime.

In 1993, she was at it again, prodding President Clinton to sign an executive order linking trade with China to improvements in its human rights record. The order required China to make a series of changes—particularly regarding its behavior in Tibet— if it wished to continue receiving its most-favored-nation trade benefits. (When the Chinese did not make the changes, Clinton abandoned the order.)

More recently, as the exasperated student in my office well knew, she spoke against the selection of Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. “It is difficult to understand,” she said in 2000, “how China can even be considered for the Olympics.” She went on to explain, “The Chinese government continues to crush all political dissent and trample on the basic human rights of its people.”

Pelosi has even been to China, despite what Work Horse has read in the Chinese news. The omission of her visit is understandable: in 1991, she visited Tiananmen Square to honor victims of the massacre. When she arrived, she was surrounded by Chinese police who harassed and assaulted her entourage. The Chinese called the event a “premeditated farce” and have declared Ms. Pelosi persona non grata. But brazen acts like this one have earned her the praise of many democracy and human-rights activists in China. Rabiya Kadeer, nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her work in China’s Muslim community, recently declared that “Uighurs, Tibetans, Mongolians and anyone else living in fear under China’s rule will take heart that she has risen to such deserved prominence.”

After completing this research about Ms. Pelosi’s career, I caught up with Work Horse in the school cafeteria. Over a plate of pulled noodles, we discussed the implications of her rise to power. He told me of China’s deepest fear: trade barriers. He also expressed an intense pride in the coming Beijing Olympics; he was utterly exasperated by her criticism of China’s selection.

When we weren’t talking about Ms. Pelosi, we talked about American-style democracy in general. Work Horse is typical of my students: he is unsatisfied with what his government tells him “democracy” looks like, but he is not very impressed by what he knows of the American alternative. He knows that it costs around 8 million dollars to run for Senate. He has read that the average net worth of a member of Congress is almost 10 times that of the average citizen. He knows that the last presidential election was held between two families worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He knows that the Pelosi family is worth tens of millions.

At times, Work Horse sounded Naderesque: “The election changed nothing—it’s just more rich people in control. They will never care about China, because China is poor. How can people like that understand us?”

“Look,” I told him. “Money is a part of American politics. But just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you can’t be a good representative for average people’s interests …”

With his bowl raised to his mouth, Work Horse interrupted. “Do Americans really believe this?” He looked at me with pleading eyes, noodles hanging from his lips. I said nothing, so he continued: “The Communist Party tells us it represents our interests and we don’t need to have any other kind of leaders. It sounds like your millionaires tell you the same thing. Do Americans really believe their system is much different from ours?”

“Yeah,” I said. “We do.”

Work Horse stopped eating, put down his chopsticks, and looked me right in the eyes: “Chinese-style democracy is controlled by the Communist Party. American-style democracy is controlled by the rich. Ba Lo Sea will change nothing.”

Pelosi has promised that the 110th Congress will be “the most honest, the most open and the most ethical Congress in history.” If she delivers, perhaps Work Horse will grow to respect American democracy. If not—if winning elections continues to be so obviously tied to wealth—he will remain cynical.

Talking to Work Horse and other students in China has shown me what a powerful symbol our democracy can be, but how little respect it now engenders. The last election was, potentially, a watershed. Let’s hope the Democrats can restore the world’s faith in our political system.

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• Reader Comments

  please, don’t encourage pelosi’s china-phobia, she has been itching to get us in a war with china for years, the ultimate big enchilada for the neocons, last thing we need is some stupidass lib like levy prattling about democrazy, btw, most people do not think the system is working
  here in the usa.

  Posted by hawaii jack on Jan 2, 2007 at 3:35 PM

  a fine story that doesn’t necessarily have any answers, only more questions.  despite the so-called ‘smaller world’ we supposedly live in, the globe is still a vast and complicated place, and much of what we think we know about our country or another is based on limited knowledge and what the media wants us to believe.  though china is the world’s fastest growing economy, not everything there is honky dorey nor does prospertiy come without its own price.  it sounds as if pelosi is an enemy of those who would seek to destroy human rights, and since china is a flagrant violator of such freedoms, poor work horse has misinterpreted her as anti-chinese.  too bad!  true enough that we americans could all use a refresher course in democracy and constitutional freedom.  sad it is too that the average chinese student appears more interested and informed about the political scene than their american counterparts.  for more interesting insights into the problems of linguistic and cultural interchange, be sure to visit mr. levy’s very informative website.  it’s not preachy, pro-american, guilt tripping or out to prove that east is better than west.  it shows things for what they are and helps its readers formulate their own opinions.  an excellent blog that is not all ego and self-indulgence, for a change. 

  p.s. rude, personal comments like those of hawaii jack should not be permitted on this website, though that would be violation of freedom of speech, wouldn’t it?  oh, well!

  Posted by emmbee on Jan 2, 2007 at 4:45 PM

  Dear Mr. Hawaii Jack,

  Why is it “china-phobia” to spend you political career lining up on the side of civil rights for “all” people regardless of nationality or in trying to use trade leverage to avoid the inevitable “race to the bottom” for the world’s labor pool.  How does doing morally correct things with ones political opportunities equate to a desire to engage in “military” war with China?  Are you suggesting Pelosi and the neo-cons are motivated to seek the same ends?  Would American democracy, in your mind, have been “working” properly had republicans maintained their majority status in Congress?

  And BTW HJ, you accused “liberal bigots” of an inability to argue facts with reasonable intelligence, but how is it that your little screed or jeremiad which begins “stupidass lib like levy” furthers any kind of reasoned debate.  IMHO it is literally conservative closed minded bigots (often religious, possibly such as yourself) who believe in either the moral or religious superiority of everything they do that is the greatest threat to human existence for the simple reason that you believe dissent is tantamount to sin or a repudiation of your very limited personal and political ideology much like you believe in the misnomer of the “peaceful freedom loving exceptionalism and individuality of the American people. “

  If your type of democracy and freedom means freedom to do whatever one wishes without thought or conscience as to the aggregate consequences of individual actions then you HJ are the quintessential American.  Peaceful in your self indulgent me-first myopic vision of existence, that is until someone asks you to change behavior or to recognize the logical fallacies or inconsistencies of your vision, at which point violence, name calling, or xenophobic fear mongering is almost always the first of arrows drawn from you limited conflict resolution quiver.

  I’m all for the great American experiment of the 21st century . . . All religious and economic conservatives should voluntarily move to the southern states and set up shop in whatever fashion they see fit.  All progressives and reason driven Americans to every other part of the country.  Then we can have a little competition (with no use of federal resources of any kind by either side) over who can create a more functional and working political, social and just economic society.  The Northern/Coastal secularists v. Southern/Midwest neo-con Ayn Randian dominionists. 

  We could measure it using a median measure of GDP, the real median wage, access to education, health care, and pensions, transportation/housing infrastructure, pollution, life expectancy and infant mortality rates.  Whichever side is objectively measured more modern and profitable is the winner.  The losers either renounce their American citizenship and move or we carve out a part of the US as a new country and let the losers have it.  Because the culture war raging in America is as serious as any external threat to our way of life.  I and many others are getting truly tired of living next to and dealing with the superstitious mouth breathing knuckle draggers like HJ that won’t seem to die, believe the Armeggedon is imminent and should be hastened, and continue to spread their morally slimy worldview to the ignorant, apathetic and just plain misinformed masses.

  Then again maybe that is the big fear of the neo-con establishment: ever allowing anyone to challenge the cultural status quo that relies on ignorance and inter-class division to keep us distracted from the atrocities being committed by the few against the many.

  Posted by rrheard on Jan 2, 2007 at 4:51 PM

  enmbee, you are very selective in your condemnation of personal insults, try scorp, chicago cabbie, redhorse, luminous beauty, texas indepedent, major major and a few others. actually you are probably
  levy writing here to plug your website. thanks, i’ll pass.
  rr heard, though i’ve lived in honululu for many years i still have friends in sf and pelosi has been beating the war drums for a long time in regard to china, considering the total failure of the us to bring democracy anywhere i don’t want our govt officials even trying.
  private citizens exposing china or usa or anyplace else i’m all for it.
  my brief ref to levy comes from reading and listening ti stupidass libs
  like him preach this democracy shit going back to wilson in ww1.
  and no i’m not a neocon, thank you. if you have read my rebuttals just
  to the bigots i listed in my first sentence above, you will see how far off base your ignorant comments are.
  on the mideast and us foreign policy the party differences are quite small, was glad to see bush rebuffed but now let’s see what changes.
  very little i’ll wager a bet. the rest of your pompous puffed up lecture you can blow it out your keister.

  Posted by hawaii jack on Jan 2, 2007 at 5:22 PM

  Pelosi beating the war drums against China . . . any proof or link to such a claim or is it just more of your masterful understanding and memory of the political and historical American scene I should be relying upon.  I’m not sure that a self description of your posts as “rebuttals” is wholly accurate given your standard responses (like “blow it out your keister” or “ignorant comments” to anything posited with which you disagree).

  I will say that I hope that you, like your many ill informed non-neo-con conservative “friends” in San Francisco (or however you would like to think of yourselves--libertarians maybe?) live out your days in ineffectual minority status and the rest of us misguided “progressives” have a chance to “reeducate” the American people and repair the externalities generated by your kooky belief that poverty, ignorance, injustice and class (the root causes of any fundamentalist ideology) are best eliminated by making sure everyone makes a poverty subsistence wage while the top 1% quickly bleeds this country of its economic strength and moral legitimacy through misguided foreign and domestic economic policy.  Then again maybe you’ll just die a miserable and painfully slow death alone or possibly surrounded by those few “compassionate conservative realists” you call friends.

  Posted by rrheard on Jan 2, 2007 at 7:17 PM

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Also by Mike Levy

• Book Club of Champions
  
• Talking American Democracy in China
  Chinese democracy does not involve much voting, awareness of how the government works, information about politics, or what I like to call "facts," yet the Chinese government claims to be democratic, and many of my Chinese friends will agree that this is true
• A View on Pelosi from a World Away
  Chinese students are less than impressed with Nancy Pelosi's fight for human rights in their country