An Introduction to Intercultural Communication. Fred E. Jandt
is most common. By 1998, most public schools had switched from teaching in English to Cantonese along with English. China has made it clear that Hong Kong was never a democracy under British rule. The colony’s governor was appointed by the British government. It wasn’t until 1991 that Great Britain allowed the first direct election of a portion of the seats in Hong Kong’s legislature. Prior to the return, China wrote a new constitution for Hong Kong, reversing some of the civil and democratic rights legislation that was passed after the Basic Law agreement without China’s consent. Hong Kong’s first chief executive after the return was selected by Beijing through a process of indirect elections involving a campaign and vote by 400 businesspeople and community leaders selected by Beijing. Hong Kong’s elected legislature was replaced by an appointed one. Currently, Hong Kong’s legislature is a semi-democratic body.
Some believe Hong Kong’s leaders will be unable to maintain political distance from Beijing, as laws were changed in 2001 so that now the chief executive is chosen by a 1,200-member election committee largely composed of Beijing loyalists. So the committee essentially serves at the pleasure of the mainland government. And in 2007, China announced that Hong Kong would have to wait before it could directly elect its leader, and the choice would be among two or three candidates approved by a special nominating committee.
Opposition to Beijing’s “one country, two systems” continues. In 2014, the “Umbrella Movement” brought tens of thousands of young pro-democracy protesters to the streets and demands for independence. Activists were arrested and charge that freedoms in Hong Kong have been dramatically curtailed. In the summer of 2019, an extradition bill was introduced that would have allowed Hong Kong to send people to China for trial but was met with demonstrations attended by roughly 1 in every 7 residents in a city of 7 million in fear of losses to freedom of speech and assembly. Hong Kong’s chief executive withdrew the bill. These demonstrations were a rare victory for Hong Kong’s autonomy as legislation is pending to impose penalties for disrespecting the Chinese national anthem. A 2019 University of Hong Kong survey showed that 71% of Hong Kongers were not proud to be part of China; 90% of young people felt that way. The percentage of people who identify as Chinese dropped to a record low of 11%, and those identifying as Hong Kongers reached a record high of 53% (Dixon, 2019; University of Hong Kong, 2019).
In 2014, democracy protests were called the Umbrella Movement as protesters used umbrellas as a tool of passive resistance to police use of pepper spray. Protests ignited again in 2019 in response to a proposal to allow local authorities to extradite Hong Kong residents to mainland China jurisdictions undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.
NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images
South China Sea
China has embarked on a massive campaign of artificial island-building to assert its claims to disputed reefs and islets in the South China Sea. By dredging sand from the ocean bed, China now has reclaimed more than 1,295 hectares (3,200 acres) of land and built at least one military installation on the artificial islands. A case in the Permanent Court of Arbitration brought by the Philippines held that China’s claims to the South China Sea had no legal basis. While the United States is not one of the six territorial claimants to the sea, it urged China to accept the ruling and has taken the position that China’s actions threaten freedom of navigation in international waters. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has said that Vietnam and the Philippines started construction work 20 or 30 years ago on islands in the South China Sea they had illegally occupied. The U.S. Navy has flown and sailed close to the islands.
Focus on Skills 3.2 High-Context and Low-Context Cultures
At a 2016 G20 meeting in Hangzhou, Chinese officials welcomed British prime minister Theresa May, Brazil’s president Michel Temer, South Korean president Park Geun-hye, Russian president Vladimir Putin, and other foreign leaders with “red carpet” treatment upon arrival. Only when U.S. president Barack Obama arrived was there no staircase provided to leave Air Force One. He was forced to disembark on a small stair through a little-used exit in the plane’s belly normally reserved for high-security trips.
A Chinese foreign ministry official said that China provides a rolling staircase for every arriving state leader, but the U.S. side insisted they didn’t need the airport staircase when they learned the driver didn’t speak English and couldn’t understand security instructions. Yet there was no apology.
One China expert observed, “The idea that they have been preparing for well over a year for the G20 but suddenly there be a malfunction with the ramp just for one president … that really strains credulity.… It sure looks like a straight-up snub.” Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China, said, “These things do not happen by mistake. Not with the Chinese.… It’s a snub.… It’s part of the new Chinese arrogance.… It’s part of saying: ‘And by the way, you’re just someone else to us.’” The ambassador added, “Just as the Chinese are about giving face they are also about not giving it and letting you know that they are not giving it to you.… They don’t overlook these things by mistake. It’s not who they are. It’s not the way they do these things.”
President Obama suggested that the Chinese hosts may have found the size of the U.S. delegation overwhelming, adding, “I wouldn’t over-crank the significance of it.… [N]one of this detracts from the broader scope of the relationship.”
Then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that if it were him, he wouldn’t have gotten off the plane. “I’d say, you know folks, I respect you a lot, but let’s get out of here.”
Assume you work with the Office of the Chief of Protocol responsible for advising the president on matters of national and international protocol.
1 How do high- and low-context concepts help you understand this incident?
2 How does the concept of face help you understand this incident?
3 What would you advise the chief of protocol to advise the president?
Sources: “Barack Obama ‘Deliberately Snubbed’” (2016); Krauthammer (2016); Landler & Perlez (2016); “Trump Slams China” (2016).
Airspace
In 2013, China declared an air defense identification zone over islands that Japan administers in the East China Sea. China threatened to stop aircraft that had not filed flight plans in advance and that refused to maintain two-way radio communication when flying over the zone. The governments of Japan and South Korea ordered their major airlines to refuse to comply, while the U.S. government encouraged U.S. carriers to file their flight plans in advance with China. Vice President Joe Biden asked China to avoid enforcement actions that could lead to a crisis.
Human Rights
The United Nations defines human rights as rights inherent to all human beings regardless of nationality, religion, race, ethnicity, sex, language, or any other status. The Human Rights Watch World Report (2020) calls attention to human rights issues in both countries. The report labels the Chinese government with one of the strictest online and mass media censorship regimes in the world, detention and trials of human rights advocates, denial of cultural and religious rights of the 13 million Turkic Muslims, and disqualification of pro-democracy lawmakers and jailing of pro-democracy student leaders in Hong Kong. The report highlights that the individuals in the United States most likely to suffer human rights violations are members of racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, children, the poor, and prisoners.
Human Rights and Free Speech
In 1989, the death of former Communist Party general secretary Hu Yaobang, whom many considered a political reformer, resulted in the