Unofficial ambassadors of Chinese goodwill to the world

When I first became very close to the local Chinese community in 1983, almost all of my friends were from Hong Kong. I knew a bit about China and that knowledge grew through the lens of my Hong Kong friends. In 1986, when I visited Hong Kong for the first time, the Transfer of Sovereignty was still over 10 years in the future. Still, each time one of my friends made the choice to return to Hong Kong after University, it was a choice carefully made. Then 1989 came and past. For me, the question about what would happen to Hong Kong has always been very important. And the lens through which I observed China was my friends' worry about what would happen to them, their families, and their homes.

July 1st, 1997 came and went. Hong Kong continued to thrive. Over the past few years, positive things could be seen happening in China, like spouts of possibilities breaking through the ground.

These spouts of possibilities are people like Aric Queen and Anna Sophie Loewenberg. These are just two people out of a population of expats in China that are involved in the arts or culture. Prior to finding these people, my idea of expats working in China were either English teachers or business people. Arts and culture is hard enough to make go in Alberta, how would it fit in China? But yet, there they were: Unofficial ambassadors of Chinese goodwill to the world.

These people speak about their experiences in China. Their voices are not like the voices of, say, CNN. They are speaking of their homes, of where they live. And their voices extend far; the local media in Edmonton did a report on SexyBeijing.

More than English teachers, who are there for a year, and businessmen, who may have no interest in the cultural pulse, the creative community must grow roots into the cultural fabric in order to survive. The creative community has presented a strong and positive message to the world about China, and more trusted by the outside world than Xinhua ever could be.

So. It is with dismay that hear that members of this community, of the expats in general, are finding it more difficult to remain in China. Visas that would have normally been easily renewed are denied. And, maybe, taking a page out of Georgia USA, the Chinese government is using traffic violations to push foreigners out.

I do hope that China doesn't squander its public relations gold.