Withstanding a cultural invasion

Most countries around the world, including those in the European Union, harbour a fear of an invasion of American culture. With its huge land mass and world's biggest population, China is too big a temptation for US marketing gurus not to try to influence, particularly now that the standard of living is improving. GEORGE CINI spoke to Chinese professors Wenxiang Gong and Aimei Yang who were in Malta recently to lecture Maltese students. They were invited to Malta by Xiaowei Xiang, director of the China Cultural Centre in Valletta.

The number of internet users in China now totals about 80 million from a total population of 1.3 billion. This shows that there is still an internet gap, primarily because of the economic conditions in rural and remote areas, according to Prof. Wenxiang Gong.

Prof. Gong is the executive dean at the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University.

Is China not afraid that its traditional culture will be overtaken by Western values, by what is sometimes termed 'Cocacolisation'?

Prof. Gong noted that this was a question which China has been pondering since the country opened its doors to the outside world. He is currently carrying out research on information sovereignty which includes sovereignty over China's cultural tradition.

"I think that is not a problem because a culture has to renew itself from time to time. At the beginning of the open policy in the early 1980s, senior citizens and senior politicians were worried that the traditional culture would be taken over by the culture of the West.

"They used to say 'now we have opened the door and everything will come in including 'mosquitoes and flies',' a metaphor for bad influences from the West especially from the United States.

"Other people asked whether we could put up a screen to combat bad influences. Two decades have passed and the positive thing for the open policy is that the culture has survived like it has survived thousands of years and numerous invaders.

"The Chinese culture will withstand an invasion of cultures, because it is so strong."

Although there are no privately owned media in China, Prof. Gong believes that in the coming decade this will change.

"There must be a change because people are talking about such a change. It is a topic not only among scholars but also in the circle of politicians.

"With the advent of privately owned media, things will be viewed from different angles. In that way more people will be represented and society will become more democratic."

For Prof. Aimei Yang, whose specialisation is the role of the family in society, this was her first visit to the West.

Did she experience culture shock coming to the West and, in particular to the Mediterranean?

There are differences between cultures, she replied, but 'shock' was perhaps too strong a word. "Coming to Europe and the Mediterranean, my impression of Malta is very good."

The first impression is that the air is marvellously fresh and the sky is extremely blue. The hotel - the two academics were staying at the Castille in Valletta - is also different from China.

China is developing very fast and most of the hotels are new, with new furniture, while here even the hotel and the furniture in the hotel seem to add to the history of the island.

"Food is very different. We have a lot of fruit, various juices and teas for breakfast and even in the rooms, which is not the case here. People in the street here are friendly and dress well and the streets are clean.

"The air in certain parts of China is not clean at all because of the factories and the number of cars and maybe because the petroleum in not so pure."

Women in big Chinese cities are becoming more and more independent. Most have their own jobs. Women in rural areas usually do not have a good education.

Everyone has to pay for tuition and if they do not have enough money to pay, there are a number of scholarships and students may borrow money from the bank.

At the moment in China there is a big project called HOPE where business firms are encouraged to provide money to assist needy people in the countryside to get an education.

The vast changes going on in the family, including a higher standard of living, is a reflection of the country's economic development.

In the 1960s when people got married the male side provided the three big items, which were a watch, a bicycle and a sewing machine. But today, if the male side can afford it, they will provide an apartment for the couple.

"We are not afraid that China will be Westernised. Now that China has an open policy, films from Hollywood and other countries reach our cinemas while Chinese filmmakers enter their work in international film festivals and win accolades.

"Many Chinese are travelling abroad and more Westerners are visiting China, all of which assists international understanding," Prof. Yang added.