EGYPT: Welcome China

Chinatown in Cairo? Perhaps, one day. China’s rising stature and economic power has Egyptians curious about learning Chinese.

Al Ahram weekly reports that the Chinese government is building a $3.75-million school in Egypt to teach Chinese language and history.

“The Chinese are not coming; they’re already here,” states the article, which notes that even traditional Ramadan lanterns hanging throughout Cairo were manufactured in China. “So pervasive have Chinese products and the Chinese people who make them become in Egypt that a Chinatown could well be built here in a few years.”

After Arabic, English is the second-most popular language in Egypt, but for many here, Chinese is the global language of tomorrow.

Since the end of colonialism, Egypt and much of the region, especially in the last eight years, have grown mistrustful and wary of the West. A glimpse eastward is intriguing.

“I would rather let my boy study Chinese, rather than any other common language,” Mohamed Abdel-Hamid, an Egyptian engineer, told the newspaper. “The future is now in China, its culture, industry, language and education.”

— Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: A group of Chinese students. Credit: United Nations

Comments

[jessie]

Recently I read carefully an online hot topic of “charter 08” upon which I threw doubt. The leading one is about liberalization of economy. It is known that liberalization of economy is an important feature of US economy. In the eyes of the so-called elites of charter 08, US are their savior. But I have to ask why they brought about the subprime crisis and the financial crisis endangered the whole world since their liberalization of economy is good? Why is the western world all expecting aids from China? And why is the West reflecting on the American economic pattern? It’s a pity that so far the elites are so obsessed with the US free economy that they even called on to reduce the threshold of financial access. We all know that the Americans are long for the reduction earnestly. Will these elites want to help the Americans realize their dream which they cannot get through negotiation by changing China? It really makes me confused.

Recently a newborn ‘Charter 08’ draws much attention from the world. But is it a real charter?
Charter, is supposed to be a national document with constitutional effectiveness, should be based on the basic situation of a country and accordant with the people’s interest, must be coordinated and drafted by the thousands of people instead of several bureaucratic liberators.
The so-called ‘Charter 08’ lacks practical feasibility, though it has some seemingly valuable political perspectives. Apparently its drafters ignored the basic situation and basic contradictions of China’s society. A Charter compiled by some fantastic dreamers, can be expected to benefit the country or the people? Maybe it can only benefit someone’s political propaganda and ambition.

Charter 08 is a bomb, far from panacea
When going deep and touching the essence of the Charter 08, I was appalled to see what it is as its true color was finally revealed off the flowery disguise with their alleged care for the nation and the people. What flooded the document is nothing but undiluted and blind orgies of sentiment, one-sided, untamed and thereby harmful.
Any organic life, including planets and the sun itself, follows certain natural laws in its growth, and no hurry-up is allowed in the normal development of almost all the life forms, plants inclusive, so is it applied to the development of a nation and its democracy.
Given the sweeping victory gained by Barak Obama as the first black president in the U.S history, many cannot help but highly tout the unmatchable U.S democracy. Some are even so carried away by the showcase of the U.S. democracy that they made remarks to preach what ‘a real democracy’ should really mean to the people, as is found in the 4,000-word document. But those who are desperately yelling for freedom and democracy might as well disregard a fact, that even in the U.S, the world’s most powerful democracy, racial discrimination has thus far never uprooted; and many social problems and evils persist till now. Perhaps some accomplishments are always beyond attainment, as social progress in any country is uneven.
But the democratic fruits achieved by the U.S so far are by no means windfalls, but tainted by blood and tears of its forefathers and the following generations. China is an emerging economy, and it will be celebrating its 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 2009. Comparatively speaking, China is still a fledgling democracy, yet to grow up to its full size and strength. Maybe it will pay some price for its grow-up, but nothing can hinder its progress in the development, nor rush for growth is welcome.
There is no doubt that China, since its founding in 1949, has made much headway in the democratic construction and is gearing for a more splendid future, in that democracy has taken root among the Chinese people, and their unity as one will provide the fertile soil for democracy to flourish and bear fruits in the ancient civilization.

[Mike]

Our family visited Cairo a few months back, and we were really surprised how friendly the Egyptians were to Chinese. We are Chinese Americans speaking English, but the locals refused to accept that we were Americans. The moment we told them we were from China originally, they often raised their thumbs saying something like "China, good". This was even more true in Turkey. where we didn't meet a single person who likes America in our 5 days of stay there! If you have never ventured outside this country, you may never know based on what you from the media. It is not just the small minority of "extremists" that dislike America as the media and government often portray as. Something is seriously wrong...