Custer: Because China’s relationship with some African nations is relatively close, recently there have been more immigrants from Africa. Do you believe that in the future, as there are more people of different races in China, there will be any kind of conflict? Is conflict possible or not? Why?

Hecaitou: Your question implies something: will Chinese people have a conflict with black people? Obviously, you also know, the chance of there being a conflict between Chinese people and whites is very small. At the same time, you stressed that it’s immigrants from Africa, not Africa descendants from America, England, France, Germany, or other developed countries. So the question is already quite clear, you’re asking whether Chinese people have any particular attitude towards people of colour from undeveloped nations. The question has [thus] already changed from race to an economic, cultural, and political question. What they [Africans] will experience in China isn’t very different from what poor people experience coming to a rich neighbourhood, or rural children experience coming to the city.

Africans protest in Guangzhou: Chinese police talk to African protestors outside a police station in Guangzhou, in South China's Guangdong province, July 15, 2009.

Photo credit: www.chinadaily.com.cn

Could you explain for us how we should understand the difference between “race” (种族) and “ethnicity” (民族)? What is the difference between a racial conflict and an ethnic conflict? Is “Han chauvinism” (汉族主义) racism?

Generally, “race” is understood to refer to different types of people: black, white, and yellow. “Ethnicity” is understood as a group that shares common culture, language, and customs. But China is a country where Han people make up an absolute majority, and it is at the same time quite separated from the outside world, so there is not a particularly strong conception of race. Instead, the concept of ethnicity is much more pervasive. In history, states founded by Han people have been defeated twice by ethnic minorities; the first was the Mongols, the second was the Manchus. The Manchus founded the Qing dynasty and ruled for 268 years until the modern China emerged. To overturn the Manchu government, the leader of the Han Sun Yat-sen raised distinct slogans for minorities, demanded that Manchus and Mongols leave Han places, and China began to change into a nation-state. However, even though it was Sun Yat-sen who came up with the slogan “the 5-ethnicity republic” meaning that Han, Mongol, Tibetan, Hui, and Manchurian ethnic groups would build a republic together, [they] did not persist in following the path of nationalism.

In China, you can obviously tell from physical characteristics that Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Han people aren’t part of the same racial group [人种]. In the past two thousand years the mixing of different ethnicities is very obvious, so nearly all Han people also carry a little bit of the blood of other ethnicities. I understand that instances of refusal of employment, marriage, or school entrance on account of differing ethnicities are extremely rare.

Have you heard of Lou Jing? Have a look at some of the comments netizens left about her. Do you feel they indicate a prejudice against black people, or even constitute racial discrimination?

If her black father was Denzel Washington, I think the comments would be completely different. Although there are this many negative comments, the reason is she’s being seen as an illegitimate child, and the masses believe her father is poor. Chinese people may not be prejudiced against black people, but their prejudice against poor people is real.

Chinese people don’t use race as a standard of judgment, they decide themselves if they should show respect or scorn. White people’s North American and European politics, culture, science, and economy are all very developed, but black people’s Africa always seems very backward, so Chinese people show more respect toward whites. At the same time in Asia, Chinese people’s attitudes about Koreans and Japanese are very different from their attitudes towards Vietnamese, Cambodians, and people from Laos. The reason is similar; Japan and Korea are developed, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos aren’t.

If race becomes a problem in China, the proof will be that Chinese people aren’t willing to shake hands with Tiger Woods simply because his skin is a different colour. Obviously, this isn’t the case, people fight to be the first to get his autograph. If there is really some international standard, I hope it says: people are all equal, and people aren’t treated differently whether they are rich or poor.

C. Custer blogs at ChinaGeeks