In the next few posts I am going to post a discussion that has been going on by e-mail between myself and my boyfriend AND a Chinese friend of my boyfriend's.
John comes from Hong Kong originally, is a doctor, gay, and has lived for many years in London.
Therefore, given his profile, most people in the West would expect him to have fairly pro-democracy and westernized ideas. However, despite being in general a very modern and open person in many areas, he does hold rather anti-democratic ideas and views western ideals of governance and societal organization as unsuitable for China.
I think it is interesting and important to get his perspective because we tend to hear a lot from Westernized pro-democracy elements from Chinese intellectual life, but not so much from this section of the educated population that feels more comfortable with aspects of the present authoritarianism. It is also striking how after living so many years under British rule in Hong Kong and later in London he has such a strong conviction in the need for China to find its own models, giving up on emulating the West as the solution.
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