Lại Thái Giang · Lives in Ha-Nam, Hà Nam, VietnamUpdated 6y
Hello everyone, this is my first time to write an answer on Quora so if there is any grammar error or problem with the words I choose to use, feel free to point it out :)).
As the other answers point out the general populace don’t really hate China.However if you look at the news or our social media you will see the case is not simple as it seems to be.
- In Vietnam, much to our dismay the topic of China and its influence on us is raised too often. Culture, Economy, Politics and etc. When you have something in your tradition that literally says: INDEPENDENCE above all else ,you will be very displeased to see that your market can be seriously affected by some rich ass dude in Guangzhou decide to buy meat from the other side. China is discussed everyday on the media, on social platforms, TV reality show, TV history show etc. You think the opinions on the mainstream media are bad? Well wait until you hear the opinions of the public:Most (people who are very poorly informed on the topics I mentioned) is very critical and to some extent extreme regarding China. Contrary to the common belief of some Chinese people (yes I know the public in China can care less about Vietnam) ,the government is very lenient when it comes to discuss China.
- Hell the officials were criticized when the media reports about the 1979 border conflict in which we don’t even mention China’s name (Zhonguo or Trung Quốc) and use the world enemy (there are many words in Chinese and Vietnamese that can be translated as “enemy” however they do not carry the same meaning, in this case the words I refer may not mean the way they are intended in English) instead.
- Onto my next point : Culture. While some extreme nationalists can shout that : VN culture is unique and better than China (well where did I hear that before) , I can safely say that our culture is influenced by China very heavily especially the North. It is a result of several conflicts in China which leads to Chinese migrated en masses further south of the Yangtze and eventually to Vietnam, 1000 years of Northen domination and the fact that we loved the culture too (I will be downvoted for this lol). If you don’t believe me, you can travel to VN to see for yourself .The trait of Chinese culture is found in almost all if not all of our culture from the way we think, we act, we speak to how we will bash other countries by claiming that : WE ARE FIRST AND BETTER lol. That is not to say that is all Chinese though. Here in Vietnam, the culture is mixed between Thai, Khmer, Chinese and Yue (Viet) and continues to be more complex when proceeding further south. We feels culturally close to China the most because of the sheer influence of Chinese culture in ours alone. In early 21st century, we general populace don’t really care about modern cultural aspect of China and focus on the GOOD OLD ANCIENT past of China like the Journey to the West, Three Kingdoms, and lots of wuxia stories and TV series etc until RECENTLY. When I mean recently I mean 2010ish. The answers claiming Korea and Japan modern entertainment are dominant in VN need updating. NEVER before have our girls enjoy reading Chinese modern literature like now ( when I mean literature I mean mostly love stories lol). Chinese drama has become dominant in our foreign TV series industry and Chinese stars are pretty much adored and loved in VN just as in China.And Chinese modern music is absolutely loved by our community. NOTE that I say FOREIGN. I can’t speak for the male counterparts though as their opinions are very divided and split. Don’t conclude just yet. We love and fear China for the same reason : its influence and our complicated history .Overall, it is a love-hate relationship
- The second point: History. Oh this is going to be so good. If you haven’t noticed yet, 90% of our hate is form on a single basis : OUR GODDAMN MANY WARS AND CONFLICTS. Even now it is still debated everyday in the comments on Youtube by both sides regarding our wars and conflicts LOL. Why France and the U.S are not hated as much is maybe because we students hate history lessons and all that talk about Marxism, the rise of the Party and not enough glory about utterly crushing Chinese invasion (I am quite confident that Chinese students also feel that when studying the Party part). THE END. NO. Seriously. Jokes aside, the reason France and the US are not hated as China is because they affect our everyday life less and the idea of FREEDOM in the US sounds so good to our population that we are very pro-US. We painted the West as our enemy in our history but also promoted Western values even to this day (China also have that, don’t you?). Thanks to our long time love-hate relationship, the West has become somewhat of a wild dream to be rich , modern and escape route of Chinese sphere of influence. To be fair, most of our population do not care about history and more about getting rich and happy, which is when the West jumps in and looks like Heaven to us. In the early 2000s, everything in VN is compared to the West. Until recently, when China projected its image to the world that China comes into our view and the idea of China being of modern and civilized is forming.TRUST ME only some makes the Chinese comparison not the general populace. In general view (heavily influenced by the West), China is still poor and all that comes with poverty blah blah. It really shows our ignorance of the current state of the world and lack of critical thinking. The reasons why we are so pro-Western are quite the same as Chinese people before present day: Modern, Rich, Civilized etc and we just so happens to too little for the West to form hostility , with poverty and communism(Western media) are the exception and the fact that Vietnamese are not fluent in English enough to read about those. The West receives praise very often and is seen as a model that we should follow. The reasons why we are so pro-Western are numerous but I think the Chinese can relate to all these. We have so much in common that even our reasoning to like the West and to DETHRONE the government (VN: early 21st century, China: 1980s) is alike. But many Vietnamese are changing now and I am optimistic about our youth. They have the right to choose the path they should follow .
- Economy and Politics: Even if I claim to be knowledgeable on this , the topic itself is very broad and more complex than it needs to be and for me to fully comprehend. I can however sum it up in a word: INTEREST. AND remember all questions regarding love-hate between 2 nations can find its roots in politics.
- Before any Chinese blame the government of VN for our hate for China, I can only say it is partially true. and it is not the way you think. The Party does care about legitimacy but it does not need an enemy to unite the people. We general populace do not really blame China for our current state.We criticize ourselves for being not strong enough which leads to what we call humiliation. In the last 20 years, the VCP has spread propaganda about the Vietnam war and our fight against the French much more than our triumph against China .In our books, we never state that China is our forever enemy and even the 1979 war is glossed over. The current government is very lenient when it comes to foreign affairs even to the point that the nationalists call them cowards. Both our ignorance of each other really doesn’t help and certainly the current territorial dispute is adding oil to the fire.
- Dear Chinese and fellow Vietnamese who happen to pass by my answer. A good day to you and I really do hope that you can help promote peace between two countries and spread it to the general populace.
- Sincerely, a student.
CVD 