More On ‘Yellow Threat’ Debate

ALLOW me to respond to a letter by Henning Melber published in The Namibian on 26 Sep.2006.

As the result of my Chinese culture – high-context communication – I interpreted Melber’s lecture from the following contexts: (a) Melber exerted himself presenting how Chinese “took away” the jobs of the Namibians (construction, shops); how China turned a blind eye to the human rights abuse in African countries by its non-interference policy; informing the audience that Chinese work, sleep, cook in the same place, etc; (b) some of the audience started abusing China during the short (not lengthy as Melber said) debate immediately after the lecture and (c) the organiser’s final words were “don’t worry” after the debate. Context is seen as an important cue to facilitate interpretation in communication, as we can also see from what Pope Benedict said that his remarks, which resulted in protests from the Muslim world, were taken out context.The context of Melber’s lecture therefore evoked an impression in my mind that Melber in fact tried to ‘build’ the fear of a ‘Yellow Threat’ in Namibia.Secondly, Melber admitted that “China pursues a similar type of predatory capitalism as those who originally invaded the continent” and I understood that he also agreed with those ‘traditional’ imperialist competitors when they warned the world of Chinese yellow threat? I have expressed in my last letter that China’s engagement in Namibia has really brought about factual gains (not “possible gains” as Melber said) in terms of saving huge amounts of money for construction, creating employment opportunities and improvement of infrastructure, to name but a few.I still hold that China is not ‘Yellow Threat’ to any country.Melber holds that China’s support of the liberation struggles in Southern Africa was interfering in these countries and was for the purpose of posing as a close ally to these governments, and using it for seeking business opportunities.I want to tell Melber that his ideas are really a gross misrepresentation of China’s policy and Chinese support to African people.As the results of collectivists’ culture, Chinese always place a high premium on building relations, whether in interpersonal encounters or between nations.Such relationship-oriented Chinese culture facilitated the healthy and fruitful Sino-Africa relations.As a culture of long orientation, Chinese favours past-present focus.They value history and tradition.Chinese support to and cooperation with African countries aim to strengthen and maintain a past-present relationship with African countries.However, China never tries to link its support with seeking business opportunities.Chinese support is unconditional.Furthermore, Chinese support to African countries in their liberation struggles and commitment to economic development are themselves a manifestation of Chinese upholding of justice and human rights of African people.President Pohamba recently commented in interview that China has been very supportive to the people of Namibia.President Pohamba’s remarks, I think, explicitly demonstrate that Chinese support benefits Namibians.Finally, I would like to point out cultural miscommunication is a common issue nowadays due to diverse cultural values.Seemingly, Melber has a keen interest in Chinese foreign policy, therefore, I would suggest he research Chinese culture to widen his vision of and fully understand China’s foreign policy.Building awareness of cultural knowledge of one’s own as well as those of foreigners will facilitate positively our intercultural communication.Yang Gan Fu WindhoekContext is seen as an important cue to facilitate interpretation in communication, as we can also see from what Pope Benedict said that his remarks, which resulted in protests from the Muslim world, were taken out context.The context of Melber’s lecture therefore evoked an impression in my mind that Melber in fact tried to ‘build’ the fear of a ‘Yellow Threat’ in Namibia.Secondly, Melber admitted that “China pursues a similar type of predatory capitalism as those who originally invaded the continent” and I understood that he also agreed with those ‘traditional’ imperialist competitors when they warned the world of Chinese yellow threat? I have expressed in my last letter that China’s engagement in Namibia has really brought about factual gains (not “possible gains” as Melber said) in terms of saving huge amounts of money for construction, creating employment opportunities and improvement of infrastructure, to name but a few.I still hold that China is not ‘Yellow Threat’ to any country.Melber holds that China’s support of the liberation struggles in Southern Africa was interfering in these countries and was for the purpose of posing as a close ally to these governments, and using it for seeking business opportunities.I want to tell Melber that his ideas are really a gross misrepresentation of China’s policy and Chinese support to African people.As the results of collectivists’ culture, Chinese always place a high premium on building relations, whether in interpersonal encounters or between nations.Such relationship-oriented Chinese culture facilitated the healthy and fruitful Sino-Africa relations.As a culture of long orientation, Chinese favours past-present focus.They value history and tradition.Chinese support to and cooperation with African countries aim to strengthen and maintain a past-present relationship with African countries.However, China never tries to link its support with seeking business opportunities.Chinese support is unconditional.Furthermore, Chinese support to African countries in their liberation struggles and commitment to economic development are themselves a manifestation of Chinese upholding of justice and human rights of African people.President Pohamba recently commented in interview that China has been very supportive to the people of Namibia.President Pohamba’s remarks, I think, explicitly demonstrate that Chinese support benefits Namibians.Finally, I would like to point out cultural miscommunication is a common issue nowadays due to diverse cultural values.Seemingly, Melber has a keen interest in Chinese foreign policy, therefore, I would suggest he research Chinese culture to widen his vision of and fully understand China’s foreign policy.Building awareness of cultural knowledge of one’s own as well as those of foreigners will facilitate positively our intercultural communication.Yang Gan Fu Windhoek