The Return to Second-class Citizenship in China

Abstract

China's open-door policy toward the West has let in more than Western ideas about dem cracy and free enterprise.1 Along with new sources f foreign capital and technology needed for China's industrialization, Deng Xiaoping's open door has also let in Western ethnocentrism and latent biases against the Chinese. Indeed, an increase in foreign investment in China has helped to create a variety of institutionalized forms of discrimination against Chinese citizens, promulgated by foreigners and occasionally even by the Chinese government. Once again in this century we are witnessing a return to second-class citizenship in China for the Chinese.2 In the West we are culpable for encouraging the rebirth of second-class citizenship, and in China the government is frequently responsible for enforcing it. It is uncomfortable to speak about in the United States and impossible to discuss publicly in the China of Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng. For our part, we would rather not believe that this is happening. If it is, we certainly do not want to accept responsibility for it. Understandably, acknowledgment of this phenomenon by the Chinese government, which is dependent upon foreign investment to modernize China's economy, is problematic and therefore unlikely. A year has passed since prodemocracy demonstrators were massacred in Tiananmen Square on 4 June by the Chinese government.3 In response to this tragedy and the continuing crackdown in China against the forces of democratization, a great many Western nations have imposed various types of sanctions on the Chinese government.4 In the private sector, one of the most severe consequences of the Chinese government's crackdown has been the slowdown of foreign investment. Even after receiving assurances from