china v. taiwan, tourist edition

Two good articles to read and ponder.

The first one: Taiwan welcomes China’s tourism boom. But Chinese tourists, not so much.

Choice quote:

for many Taiwanese, especially refined residents of Taipei, Chinese tourists are the bumpkin cousins tracking mud into their expensive foyer. Taiwanese stereotype the Chinese as smoking, spitting, coughing, bellowing, and generally uncouth visitors.

The second one: The Narcissism of the Small Difference by Hitchens.

In numerous cases of apparently ethno-nationalist conflict, the deepest hatreds are manifested between people who—to most outward appearances—exhibit very few significant distinctions. It is one of the great contradictions of civilization and one of the great sources of its discontents, and Sigmund Freud even found a term for it: “the narcissism of the small difference.” As he wrote, “It is precisely the minor differences in people who are otherwise alike that form the basis of feelings of hostility between them.”

Of course, Hitchens is writing about ethno-nationalist conflict, whereas the differences between China and Taiwan are political.

I’ve heard it said that some people in Taiwan consider themselves the true China, because they were the ones who escaped with the culture and protected it from Mao’s horrible revolution. It’s an interesting line of thought, but practically speaking, needlessly inflammatory.

In any case, I can now expect to receive a flood of spam, as I always seem to do after posting anything regarding China and Taiwan.