Quote Originally Posted by Watcher In The Middle View Post
is that we (the "West") look at China through Western eyes, and concepts. That's our filter, it what we've grown up with, so it's understandable. Problem is, we miss stuff as a result. Here's a great example of something missed:
There's a huge difference between something you don't know and something you don't understand.

The idea that "Westerners" don't understand China (or the Middle East) is, IMO, simplistic, misleading and basically not true. There is, however a lot about China, we don't know.

The Chinese are very pretty easy to understand, and what it more there is a whole raft of westerners, who read and speak Chinese, who are good at understanding them. It is simply a matter of values, and assembling them in the right order.

The idea that the Chinese are complexity and arcane is an out growth of "China Watchers" wanting to make themselves more skilled than they actually are. What has emerged is a perception that doing the blindingly obvious is somehow clever.

A friend of mine sat through a very uncomfortable dinner in Singapore where a Washington based "China Expert" was lecturing a Thai Air Force officer on the Chinese threat to Thailand. After about 20 mins, the RTAF guy held up his hand and asked "Do you speak Cantonese?" The Expert said he spoke a little. The RTAF guy then suggested, "perhaps if we speak Cantonese, you will improve." No one laughed. If they had, they would have lost face.